I recently read about a study by Tulane University that was conducted over 40 years ago with a group of fourth graders from a Tennessee school. For five weeks, the students took instant Polaroid photos of themselves with cameras that were provided by the University. The assignment was to take self portraits in many different poses while expressing many different emotions. They would then create their own personal scrapbooks using the printed images of themselves. Testing of both the students and their teachers at the conclusion of the study revealed a rather significant increase of 37 percent in the students' average self esteem behaviors.
I found this both fascinating and kind of obvious.
I know, from personal experience, that kids delight in seeing themselves in print. They love everything from the time you set aside to cuddle on the couch together, to the anticipation of every story they're about to hear about every photo they come across, and everything in between.
There's something very empowering about seeing themselves in these family photos. They're not quite able to articulate the importance of it, but here it is:
When they see themselves blowing out birthday candles, or riding that 2 wheeler by themselves with their dad cheering in the background, or in that ridiculous family portrait when you all decided to make a funny face instead of the required smile, they are seeing much more than the image of themselves in print. They are seeing how important they are in the lives of those around them. They don't see themselves as a single unit anymore, but as a vital part of a family. They see that they were important enough to be photographed, to be cheered, to be celebrated, to be included. They see that the people around them count them as an important part of who they are.
And that they matter.
Printing photobooks is a responsibility, as I see it. The responsibility is not just for us, but for our children and grandchildren. Having the tangible comfort that a photo can give us is something you cannot put a price on.
I lost my grandmother over 13 years ago. There's a photo of the two of us at my wedding that is one of my favorites. She and I stood in the middle of a crowd of dancing guests and it seemed like the light was shining on just the two of us with everyone else fading in the background. Trick lighting, maybe, but the effect is beautiful. Her face shone with pride and joy and happiness and love and whenever I look at it, I realize how important I was to her and how important she was to me. What a wonderful thing to know! And whenever I think of her, that photo comes to mind. And I'm so grateful that I have that photo in print.
I think about all the photos I have that haven't made it into photobooks - photos that are equally as important and beautiful and tell a story that is about love and acceptance and family, and my mind is already racing as I mentally design yet another photobook. With the ease of uploading and sharing your Google photos with us, we can make sure that your photos that are currently stored somewhere on a cloud will make it into a beautiful photobook that you can hold and share and enjoy.
It's no surprise that photos make us feel better about ourselves. Now that you know that, it's time to do something about it.
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