Met Taylor Jones of Dear Photograph up at CuteGecko two weeks ago. Very nice guy with an awesomely powerful idea. Respect! Looking forward to his TEDxWaterloo talk in March. That chance meeting got me thinking about the upcoming trip to my hometown of Point Edward with my bro to see my folks. And that led to this…
Dear Photograph,
Be kinder to your brother: you need each other and 38 years later you will still be best of friends when the others fade away.
Dear Photograph,
You won’t always have to talk to girls on the one phone in the kitchen.
Dear Photograph,
You’ll never have friends again like you had in high school.
Dear Photograph,
There’s a lot of work ahead, Mom.
Dear Photograph,
Your family will get a lot smaller in the future. Enjoy it now.
Dear Photograph,
Drive the hell out of it, Dad.
Dear Photograph,
Never got to say good-bye, Gram, but thanks for the Peps and breakfasts.
Dear Photograph,
Are first days on the job always a mix of panic and excitement?
Dear Photograph,
A hundred years later, this will still be known as the Foster House, but we won’t know all your names.
Dear Photograph,
Every day I’m shovellin’.
Dear Photograph,
Gram, don’t give away Mom’s first bike. She loves it.
Dear Photograph,
Uncle Derek will make you love motorcycles, too.
Dear Photograph,
We’ll spend a lot of time together, Paw, but I’ll always wish for more.
Dear Photograph,
Enjoy the days…
before we find out about cancer.
Dear Photograph,
Keep moving forward.
DW
(Special thanks to Paul and Erica for inviting us into our old house. What a gift. I can’t think of nicer people to care for that house full of memories.)
I think this is one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen!!! Great Job!!
Thanks cuz! It really blew my hair back when I first saw it on dearphotograph.com. If you’re going to try it yourself, let me suggest shooting with your smartphone. I tried the DSLR for a bit, but it just didn’t work. Shot this with my BlackBerry 9790 on macro mode. You also have to monkey around a lot with (a) distance from scene (b) distance between camera and photo (c) angles horizontally and vertically between camera, photograph, and scene. I found when it just didn’t look right, I usually had to back up about 15 feet. Also had to accept that I wouldn’t get *everything* to line up perfectly, but got good effect when I aligned strong features of the photo like the horizon, or lines of the sidewalk. Took a lot more trial and error than I thought it would, but all fun.
DW
Wow, Dar! So powerful. It’s amazing how incredibly moving this idea can be when coupled with such heartfelt comments. Proud to be a part of it. Well done, broseph!!
“You just blew me away with a tear in me eye” nephew! … WELL DONE, Darin.
♥♥♥ Uncle Derek ♥♥♥
Just think… you had your Brother and Your Dad with you during the above photos… and you still did a perfect job!
Keep up the good work… enjoy each day,
M & D
Love the step back in time! Your thoughtful comments are fantastic too.
Lisa
I think I’ve looked at this today at least four times…love it!! So powerful…
Updated the caption on the first photo to include the honest math: it was 38 years ago (not 37). Year was 1973. And yeah… I’m only counting *full* years. Uncle Derek’s 1971 Chev Impala in the background.
DW
I found your site because I was lookinig for info on #cinqasept and it led me here. This post was beautiful and I don’t even know you, your family or the places. Thank you for the little , yet powerful reminders that are so important.
Wow, amazing post.. absolutely loved it – thanks for sharing
So inspiring Darin! Thanks for sharing. I can’t wait to look at our family photos with new eyes and look for opportunities to try this. If I can even remotely capture the sentimentality that you have here I will be ecstatic. Nice work!
Great photos, who says you can’t go back in time.
Dennis B.
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