Changing Times
June 3, 2011 (Friday)
Dale Pogue, in his Tuesday blog, talked about the change from film cameras to digital cameras. It was a very interesting article, and you will enjoy reading it at http://www.dalepogue.com
His words got me thinking about an old letter from Worthington, Minnesota, sent by my great grandmother to her mother in Utica, New York, around 1880 or so. Seems in those days photography was a new thing on the human scene, and photographers were like the old circuit-riding preachers of that day, moving from city to city.
Her letter revealed the disappointment that she felt because the photographer had not come that year. There had been an awful, devastating plague of grasshoppers that destroyed everything that grew. She told her mother in the letter, “I guess the photographer thought the grasshoppers ate everyone” (or words to that effect).
Those experiences taught her sons–my grandfather and his three brothers–that photography was a worthy vocation, and all four of them adopted it as an occupation for at least part of their lives. My own grandfather, Clinton Stone Fake, practiced it for the rest of his life, along with his first love, which was preaching. He sang and preached his way into the hearts of many underprivileged people through the years, and took the gospel to them through rescue missions and tent meetings. His camera, one of those you see only in old movies, was handed down to one of my cousins. It’s an antique now, but I’m sure it would still take a picture if given the chance.
So, as Dale said, now that we’ve reached the digital age in photography, a wonderful age is passing from the scene. It was great while it lasted.