Want To Hear Something Nostalgic?
I have photos of my old house in New Jersey, snapshots my parents took when I was little. Playing with the kids that lived on our cul-de-sac, my mom and me in the driveway with my little sister in a 1970’s baby carrier, my sister and I playing in the living room of our childhood home with her little toe busting out of her sleeper. They were just casual family snapshots that never even made it into an album. Mom took so many pictures that we had a Rolodex-type display that I liked to flip through.
I have no idea what prompted each photo, or which ordinary Tuesday it was taken on. But I'm so glad they exist anyway. Print the photos!
1973 in Sparta, New Jersey. New house with fresh drywall in the garage, a car I don’t remember, the yard doesn’t have grass yet. Mom is holding my sister in a carrier. I’m sporting a skirt and stockings (over a diaper?) and a pink jacket. Those trees in the background were the “woods” where I spent countless hours exploring.
I remember that couch and the black & white, stiff leather shoes; my sister looking cute in her sleeper.
As a photographer, I've captured plenty of the big, obvious chapter markers: weddings that started families, first room shots that launched someone's restaurant, galas that became the event everyone talked about, family portraits that made the holiday card that year.
Marissa Moss (left) and Amy photograph the 80’s themed Heart Gallery: Be Mine fundraiser in 2024
But over the years, I've also photographed a lot of in-between moments, everyday images that didn't feel like anything special at the time, but turned out later to be diamonds in the rough.
Mom shot this one. We wore out my dad! Early training for horseback riding! I only remember my bedroom with a pretty blue floral wallpaper that came later, but I vividly remember the quilt and matching curtains- perhaps made by my Mimi-and the Peanuts pillowcase. Not sure about the giant Pinocchio head on the dresser, but I think the little white glow lamp was Casper the Friendly Ghost.
Those New Jersey snapshots are often overexposed with harsh flash, soft focus, and the composition was pure luck. But they're proof of something: how much it matters to document the everyday, not just the big occasions.
You don't always know in advance which moments you'll want to revisit. But if you keep capturing them, chances are good you'll have a record when you do.
