Lately I have been having little flash backs of my life, with many of them being from my childhood. I have been pondering the meaning behind these flashbacks. They aren’t bad/traumatising, and they aren’t exactly amazingly joyful ones either. Just the everyday memories. I haven’t yet figured out why these snippets of time keep popping up in my mind, or what I am meant to do with them, but there is one that is special to me that I would love to share with you.
I could be cleaning, working, driving or doing nothing at all and all of a sudden, in my mind, I see my Dad’s hands. I see the cuts, lumps and bumps from working with dairy cows. The damage from all the work with water (washing the teats, washing out the dairy yards, cleaning the vats, etc) and the cold weather of Maleny. I see the grease and oil stains in those cuts from the work on the machinery. I see the hands that are rough but at the same time comforting. The hands that worked all day but once in a while would be willing to play some French Cricket in the front yard.
We all have our time machines. Some take us back, they're called memories. Some take us forward, they're called dreams.
- Jeremy Irons
It’s not only the rough cut up hands of a dairy farmer that I see. In these memories that come back to me quite often now, I see my own young hands. My child sized hands holding onto his fingers, turning his hand around, playing and comparing. I can remember these times as if they were yesterday. Sitting in church at Maleny, sitting next to my father, looking out the window to see our farm up the hill. I remember just sitting through the sermon and playing with my Daddy’s hands. I don’t know if I was just playing or trying to study them to be able to remember them. But my Dad was willing to let me sit next to him and just play with his hands. He probably didn’t mind it as it meant that I wasn’t being noisy during church.
So, I have this special memory that comes to me. And it is such a simple one – nothing amazing happened. It is quite forgettable in fact. I know this because I asked my Dad if he remembered those times, and he did not. It just goes to show that little acts can have such a big impact on someone. Just like beauty is in the eye of the beholder – memories are in the heart of those who cherish the moment.
What do I do about this memory? Well, the only thing that a photographer can do – recreate it! I still have my Dad, and I have a young daughter, so that means I have what I need to recreate this image that keeps coming back to my mind. The only tricky part is that my Dad lives further away from me than I would like so it means travelling to take the photo. After months of wanting to make this photo happen, the weekend of Father’s Day we managed to visit my Dad and finally the scene was set and the shot was taken. Dad felt a bit awkward, but like any true father, he fought through that awkwardness to help his child. That day I was able to capture a memory made over 30 years ago and give a printed memory to my daughter of her grandfather.
When you grow up, you'll be older but those memories you have as a kid last forever.
- Xander Bogaerts
I have always wished that my eye could be a camera and that I could print the images in my mind. I am not the best when it comes to written word – I can’t paint a picture with words. But I can paint a picture with light – which is what photography is! Do you have a memory that you wished was in print? I guess that is the benefit of having cameras on our phones now – we can photograph memories. Or you can always book a session with me and we can create new memories.
Memories: they’re an unpredictable bunch. But I cherish the childhood memory of playing with my Daddy’s hands and am grateful that I had the opportunity to recreate it.
Hopefully I can recreate more of my memories and make new ones to document. If you would like to document your own memories with me, head over to my CONTACT page and we can get the ball rolling. While you are over on the website, you should check out all the other memories that I have documented. Whether it is Christmas minis or family sessions; milestones or new beginnings, there is always something to be captured. Let’s make some memories!
