The Importance of Photographs

HockeyFan4

I don't know if this has been posted, but I just read it and thought it was pretty powerful...

A letter on my door step. portraits are more than paper.

Posted by jeaninethurston on January 2, 2012

There will be no portrait photos in this post.  This letter wasn’t mailed – it was at my doorstep when I got home a couple months ago.  I read it, I cried, and read it again – probably a hundred times by now.  It wasn’t easy to read – and honestly, as much as it validates what I do for a living – I wasn’t sure I was going to share it either – Until today, when a past client said that my print prices were too expensive.  If you choose to read through the letter, you will know why I’ve finally chosen to share it.

July 2nd, 2011

Jeanine - 

Today I am writing for a couple of reasons.  I have some quiet time at the moment and need to get a couple of things off my mind.  I will leave this for my husband to deliver to you when he is ready.

You photographed my wedding, you photographed my first pregnancy and my first baby.  I contacted you awhile back to photograph my 2nd child and family.  After getting prices and realizing I would want all of the pictures as we love your work – I decided against spending $500+ – which is what I normally spend for portraits and prints with you..  Please know it is not because I don’t value your amazing eye, or how much we love the experience.

That week that I decided to NOT do a session with you, this is how I spent some money.

On Sunday I called and cancelled our session.  Monday I went out and got my hair cut ($39+tip), and colored ($65), Thursday I had my nails done ($24), my family went out to dinner at a somewhat expensive restaurant for no particular reason costing us $79 + tip.  This was just 4 days since canceling our session, already totaling over $200 for un necessary things.  My nails only lasted about 2 weeks, my hair is gone, and seven weeks passed when I got the phone call from our doctor.  It was not something I expected and the cancer has spread very quickly.  I will be leaving my husband, my 6 year old girl and my now 2 year old – not by choice.  It is very hard for me to talk about it which is why I need to write you.

I watch your Facebook page and your posts about the value of a photo and if I could give back all of those things that I purchased this few weeks after I cancelled my session with you, knowing what I know now, and have that session, well… I would do it in a heartbeat. 

Now my time is done and there are no more chances for me.  The next time someone cancels a session – my wish is that you forward this letter to them.  Time is fragile, it is gone before you know you had it.  If you charged $200 for one print it wouldn’t be enough for what it is actually worth.  I cringe to think that my priorities were a manicure over a memory to pass onto my babies and husband.

My love and thanks for what you have given us from past photos.  I am so sorry that I did not see it as more than paper until now.

Karen L.

 

http://fototails.wordpress.com/2012/01/02/a-letter-on-my-doorstep-portraits-are-more-than-paper/

StephBeanWed61502

I suddenly feel better about the insane price we're paying our photographer...

Thanks for sharing, this is definitely food for thought.

laurenclaire1386

If this photographer is sending this letter to people who cancel their sessions, then she's fucking crazy. That's like extortion man. Cancel your photo session and you'll get cancer and die and be sorry! I'm sorry. Sentimental chain junk like this just really isn't my cup of tea.

monkeysip

When I read this, my immediate question was why this woman was no longer capable of taking a photograph, or having someone else take a photograph, because she had cancer.

I respect professional photographers, and they should definitely be compensated well for their art and talent, but I too really treasure the photos of my family and friends takens with a phone, a point and shoot, or even a disposable camera.

Cortney1982

So if somebody cancells she sends them this letter which basically reads: "Hellllooo! Like if you didn't buy Starbucks everyday and go to the salon you could afford my services!!  And if you don't, you'll get cancer and be sorry!!!"

jelybeancg

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_importance-of-photographs?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:9Discussion:f48d0857-b4bf-43f3-84aa-6c438207fd68Post:da3d2255-8583-4f38-b9bc-c011fb5e9790">Re: The Importance of Photographs</a>:
[QUOTE]So if somebody cancells she sends them this letter which basically reads: "Hellllooo! Like if you didn't buy Starbucks everyday and go to the salon you could afford my services!!  And if you don't, you'll get cancer and be sorry!!!"
Posted by Cortney1982[/QUOTE]

No, she does not send this to clients who cancel. She just posted it to her blog, once.

But I do agree that it may be made up to make people emotional and drum up more business.

anushree5

Photographs are nice to have - but you don't have to spend 100s on it!
This letter seems to have been propagated by someone who wants clients to purchase their (expensive) services.

My mother passed away shortly after we got engaged. We were going through the photographs to put some on a memorial table during our wedding. Some of my favorites are the spontaneous ones I had taken of her - like when she was reading a book to act as if she is ignoring me (she loved reading books, and we often joked that it was her way not to have to listen to the very talkative me), or when she was sitting behind the wheel just before we left for a mother-daughter's day out. These had a story behind it that I still remember and smile. Posed photographs are good for certain occations like wedding or pregnancy (the backdrop in big enough to make you smile). But IMHO, some of the best everyday photographs are captured spontaneously.

harpsdesire

That photog better have offered the lady a free session the day after she got the letter... 

*le sigh*

I doubt the implications that it is impossible to remember a passed loved one without fully documented photographic evidence.  People have been loving and losing since long before the camera came on the scene.

ShadowCutter

Not entirely the point but what I thought when I saw the title and came in to read is that IMO we need to take more pics of daily real life, not just standing in a group smiling at a camera. Regardless of the cost of using that camera (more likely you'll be using your own or a friend's camera anyway, I mean you can't hire a pro for everyday stuff). The people and events in the pics are more important than the professional vs amateur quality/price. At several weddings I've been to they had a slide show of pics of the b&g, first separate of them growing up and then pics of them together, basically birth to engagement; and I like those but I wonder if we have enough photos for that; DF and I have several from our first couple years but my family stopped taking pics and video after a certain point (mostly because the video camera broke and film/ development got expensive). I hope we can find enough "through the years" pics and get around to engagement photos soon. Obviously we have digital cameras now which makes it easier but we still need to get someone to actually take them. I have friends who are photographers so I just need to grab them. If the only pics you take is the stand-in-a-group type for your Christmas letter and stuff, you can't see who the people in the pic actually are or what was going on in their lives. Those don't mean so much to me and I don't even like getting them taken. I'd rather see photos of real people with real smiles doing real-life things. Of course professional portraits have their own value, but they're not the way to make lasting memories, especially if you have to spend all your money or go into debt just to get them. If you don't want to spend the money then don't. On a side note, my haircuts cost $8-12 dollars including tip. $40 isn't required for that.