dave lackey
Veteran
Time elasticity is real. Time is now passing too fast. But time is not the only thing passing. People are too.
When I was young, I took friends for granted. Only recently have I noticed that those I grew up with are dying and are lost forever. The places I lived, even university dorms, are either gone or changed forever.
That's life!
I regret not having taken more photos along the way of the mundane. Some friends I can barely remember what they looked like. The sound of their voices? Gone completely. The memories are not as clear as before but now and then something pops into my mind about a moment shared or an adventure. Or even an event like a wedding or motorcycle ride up the east coast. I wish I had more photos.
Lately, I have been buying more black and white film! I have been moving my gear choices around to take advantage of opportunities to get some photos of friends. Family photos are occupying many boxes in closets. But friends... No, I need more photos!
When I was young, I took friends for granted. Only recently have I noticed that those I grew up with are dying and are lost forever. The places I lived, even university dorms, are either gone or changed forever.
That's life!
I regret not having taken more photos along the way of the mundane. Some friends I can barely remember what they looked like. The sound of their voices? Gone completely. The memories are not as clear as before but now and then something pops into my mind about a moment shared or an adventure. Or even an event like a wedding or motorcycle ride up the east coast. I wish I had more photos.
Lately, I have been buying more black and white film! I have been moving my gear choices around to take advantage of opportunities to get some photos of friends. Family photos are occupying many boxes in closets. But friends... No, I need more photos!
mcfingon
Western Australia
You're right Dave,
And it's never too late to start. This is my friend going for a ride on my old BMW last weekend taken by my recent acquisition of L
eica M2 and Biogon f2/35 lens.
And it's never too late to start. This is my friend going for a ride on my old BMW last weekend taken by my recent acquisition of L
Keith
The best camera is one that still works!
Good philosophy Dave. And the flip side for me is many people I have photographed have become friends.
dave lackey
Veteran
Ah, yes! Airhead!!
This is a great example of a photo that may be oh so important down the road of time.
I have many motorcycle rides in my mind and only a few photos. Time to get busy again.
This is a great example of a photo that may be oh so important down the road of time.
I have many motorcycle rides in my mind and only a few photos. Time to get busy again.
dave lackey
Veteran
Good philosophy Dave. And the flip side for me is many people I have photographed have become friends.
Keith, that is absolutely an observation I missed! Thanks for that insight!
Paul Jenkin
Well-known
In developed countries, as we get older and have more and more responsibilities heaped upon us, it's hardly surprising that our vision narrows and we focus, sometimes to the exclusion of all else, on our families and our jobs. Our friends remain our friends but we spend a reducing amount of time renewing those bonds and building upon our relationships.
Conversely, I watched a programme the other evening about an Indonesian tribe of hunter-gatherer fishermen - most of whom had barely ever set foot on land. They had virtually nothing that we'd recognise as capital possessions and yet the ties within the family and their wider neighbours and community were immense. Sadly, due to commercial over-fishing, their future is in the balance.
On a simplistic level, it seems to me that it is easy to be conditioned into thinking that things are more important than people.
I lost my best friend two years ago. He was about 54 at the time - the same age I am now. My parents died years ago and, as I've moved around with my work over the past 36 years, I've made and lost contact with some good friends. Recently, some words my best friend spoke have begun to resonate very loudly inside me:
"Life is not a dress rehearsal for anything". I don't think I've ever believed anything so strongly before.
Conversely, I watched a programme the other evening about an Indonesian tribe of hunter-gatherer fishermen - most of whom had barely ever set foot on land. They had virtually nothing that we'd recognise as capital possessions and yet the ties within the family and their wider neighbours and community were immense. Sadly, due to commercial over-fishing, their future is in the balance.
On a simplistic level, it seems to me that it is easy to be conditioned into thinking that things are more important than people.
I lost my best friend two years ago. He was about 54 at the time - the same age I am now. My parents died years ago and, as I've moved around with my work over the past 36 years, I've made and lost contact with some good friends. Recently, some words my best friend spoke have begun to resonate very loudly inside me:
"Life is not a dress rehearsal for anything". I don't think I've ever believed anything so strongly before.
back alley
IMAGES
i liked it when as kids our job was to hang out with friends and just have fun. as i grow older (old) i miss those times more and more and like you dave, miss some of those folks forever now as they have passed on.
Prest_400
Multiformat
I'm in the other side of the spectrum, when things happen NOW.
That said, at the end of high school I began to realise the transience of our lives And began to do some occasional documentation within my means.
Now I have a couple of years of college on my belt and when I entered I had this notion very clear. Nowadays, for me, the iPhone is a great tool for snapshots and candids. Camera in pocket always.
Even with such ease of documentation, many people still don't realise daily life until some of it becomes a treasured past without memories.
That said, at the end of high school I began to realise the transience of our lives And began to do some occasional documentation within my means.
Now I have a couple of years of college on my belt and when I entered I had this notion very clear. Nowadays, for me, the iPhone is a great tool for snapshots and candids. Camera in pocket always.
Even with such ease of documentation, many people still don't realise daily life until some of it becomes a treasured past without memories.
Sykomor
Established
I absolutely agree but I'm the one with the camera. There are no photos of me.
OurManInTangier
An Undesirable
Do it now.
I'm now 41 and am seeing so many of my friends disappear into family life, work envelops all and even planning an evening out with friends can start months in advance to allow booking of babysitters or favours to be called in from grandparents. That age of being surrounded by both friends and events at all times is magical....but not necessarily understood to be as fleeting as it is at the time its all happening. If only I'd listened to my father
how many of us have wondered that though...If time is going at the concerning speed it is now, how quickly will it be going when I'm in my 60's or 70's, or will I finally be wise enough to have stopped caring/noticing?
back alley
IMAGES
the last 20 years seem like a flash!
i sometimes sit and try to figure out what happened!
i sometimes sit and try to figure out what happened!
Spavinaw
Well-known
Friends are number one, but things are important, too. I've posted about this before, but I'm going to do it again. If any of you are psychic, you can stop reading now because you already know what I'm going to say. For the rest of you, here it is again. One day I was driving down a road beside a large field with a barn in the middle of it. The setting sun could be seen by looking down the hallway of the barn. I had no camera with me. Next time I drove down the road, the barn was completely GONE! A much more spectacular example is the Old Man of the Mountain whose image is on the New Hampshire quarter dollar coin. It's gone forever, too. So take "that" picture now, or as soon as you reasonably can.
rhl-oregon
Cameras Guitars Wonders
Okay, some examples for encouragement:
My oldest friend Kelly J. In 2012 On the left with his trio (including his partner Julia & Woody on drums) in our hometown. kelly and I performed together in a number of folk/Rock groups, hitchhiked/busked in England, etc.
Kelly's father, also Kelly J., in the 18thc. house he dismantled, moved, and rebuilt stick by stick in Wilmngton NC. Aged 90 in this portrait.
My neighbor, friend & longtime sociologist Joan Acker in a portrait now used in a French text on 20thc. Sociology. Shot during New Years dinner at my house.
Post some of your friends, old, best, as they were or as they are now. Tomorrow or the day after some will be gone.
My oldest friend Kelly J. In 2012 On the left with his trio (including his partner Julia & Woody on drums) in our hometown. kelly and I performed together in a number of folk/Rock groups, hitchhiked/busked in England, etc.
Kelly's father, also Kelly J., in the 18thc. house he dismantled, moved, and rebuilt stick by stick in Wilmngton NC. Aged 90 in this portrait.
My neighbor, friend & longtime sociologist Joan Acker in a portrait now used in a French text on 20thc. Sociology. Shot during New Years dinner at my house.
Post some of your friends, old, best, as they were or as they are now. Tomorrow or the day after some will be gone.
rhl-oregon
Cameras Guitars Wonders
Dan Powell, photographer, longtime neighbor & University of Oregon colleague, at a coffee date with my GR. He retires this year and is cataloging/archiving his work as his MS permits.
Novelist, friend, longtime UOregon colleague David Bradley, not long before his retirement to sunnier climes (La Jolla).
Novelist, friend, longtime UOregon colleague David Bradley, not long before his retirement to sunnier climes (La Jolla).
rhl-oregon
Cameras Guitars Wonders
Where are your friends in your images? Show them.
Longtime friend Carol Stack, my wife's mentor and our daughter's godmother, now retired in Chapel Hill.
My brother Anderson, who moved to Oregon last year so we can be near each other for the next stage of our lives, and who is a dear friend to me.
Longtime friend Carol Stack, my wife's mentor and our daughter's godmother, now retired in Chapel Hill.
My brother Anderson, who moved to Oregon last year so we can be near each other for the next stage of our lives, and who is a dear friend to me.
dave lackey
Veteran
Robert,
Been busy scanning all day trying to catch up. Just now getting back to say your photos are very special! I like each of them very much!
You have inspired me to work on my own friends' photos tomorrow!
Not sure where they all are... Probably still in print form or negatives. Good thing I mowed the lawn yesterday as this is gonna take some time!
Been busy scanning all day trying to catch up. Just now getting back to say your photos are very special! I like each of them very much!
You have inspired me to work on my own friends' photos tomorrow!
Not sure where they all are... Probably still in print form or negatives. Good thing I mowed the lawn yesterday as this is gonna take some time!
dave lackey
Veteran
Spavinaw
Well-known
Dave,
I was 99+% sure that was Bridal Veil falls before I read the location. In my opinion one of the biggest missed advertising opportunities of the last century was in a BMW car series featuring places to go and drives to take. It's been a long time ago, but they had a picture of the falls but did NOT have a picture of a car driving behind them. What a truly unique missed opportunity!
I was 99+% sure that was Bridal Veil falls before I read the location. In my opinion one of the biggest missed advertising opportunities of the last century was in a BMW car series featuring places to go and drives to take. It's been a long time ago, but they had a picture of the falls but did NOT have a picture of a car driving behind them. What a truly unique missed opportunity!
oftheherd
Veteran
Another thing for those here who are younger. Get photos of family beyond your parents and siblings. Also, look in the photo albums and get explanations and write them down. I have photographs that I don't have a clue who they are. My parents are long gone, my only sibling recently gone, aunts and uncles all gone, many cousins gone. No way to find out. Sad.
dave lackey
Veteran
Yes, that is exactly the location! A few years after this was taken, a huge boulder (house size) fell off and landed about where my bike is shown in the photo. The next year it was still there. I will be going up that way this summer and I will make a point to visit Bridal Veil Falls just to see if the boulder was ever moved!!!