While I'm finding some blurry, nonsense photos easy to delete, I'm also struggling a little. One of the things I'm finding the most difficult is deleting any photo of Audrey. They can be blurry, but I see a cute face I want to remember through the blur and I just can't do it.
Struggling with this has reminded me that there's a difference between a well composed, sharply focused photograph that you've created and a snapshot. And while I strive to create beautiful photographs, snapshots are just as important. Sometimes, especially with our children, there just isn't enough time to think and create, you just have to shoot and capture that spur of the moment slice of your life. As your photographic techniques improve, you may get luckier with these snapshots. But the fact of the matter remains: some days you're lucky and some days you're not.
These snapshots don't need to be perfect. And imperfect snapshots shouldn't always be deleted. They will often be a more accurate representation of our memories than a well thought-through photograph. In 10, 20, even 30 years, I will look back on these snapshots and I won't see the blur, but the smile or the silly face or the joy of experiencing something for the first time. And while the beautiful photographs may hang on our wall, the snapshots are our life. They are a reminder of the precious moments that can get buried in the depths of our mind or heart.
Snapshots are not always perfect, but neither are we. And just as our imperfection doesn't make us any less important, neither does it make our snapshots less important.
