As parents and photographers, we take thousands and thousands of photos of our children every year. Looking at my Lightroom catalogue from last year, I have over 3000 photos of the kids, and that doesn’t include all the pictures I took with my phone camera!
In our house, the camera is always out. I take pictures of them throughout the day, no matter what they’re doing. The kids know the camera is a part of our lives, and they don’t act differently when they see me taking pictures of them, as some adults would.
I’m a big believer that photos are too precious to live on computers. Hard drives fail and images can get lost so your best insurance is having the tangible photo right in front of you. Twice a year I go through thousands of our photos to print a few for display, I recommend you do this also.
In our house, we use photos as home decor. We have a couple large collections of photos throughout the house, smaller prints displayed everywhere, as well as photobooks alongside the framed photos.
These photos really are a gift because it helps us remember how much we are loved, and it reminds us how blessed we are to have each other. There are times when I have had a bad day and seeing a photo of us laughing and hugging each other reset my mind and helped me remember what is most important.
Aside from these reasons, here are four other reasons why you as parents (or grandparents) should display photos of your kids.
Self-Esteem
It is amazing to see what a boost of confidence and self-esteem comes to the child whose parents display a lot of photographs of them around the home. Your children understand that you have taken the time to hang, frame, and display their photos, and it makes them understand that you value them, find them to be beautiful, and want to see them each day.
Memories
In the hectic pace of modern family life we can forget what kids looked like only a year earlier. Images not only give us a glimpse into the past, but they can also bring us back to the moment in an instant. Remember how proud you felt when your child was a newborn and how perfectly they fit in your arms? Photos bring you back to those feelings when the photos were made.
Forgotten
How often do you scroll through your phone’s photo roll or look at the folders full of images on your hard drive? Hard drives could fail and images could be forever lost. Why lose out on the opportunity to put all of those smiling faces on your walls? You have a museum full of gorgeous artwork just waiting to be printed.
Sharing
When you print out and display these images in your home it opens a dialogue and creates a habit of sharing memories. Kids may not look at certain photos for a long time, and then suddenly lean in and remember something important. When some of these photos were taken during the best moments of your lives, it is worth reliving and remembering.
I could go on with the list, but these are the reasons I continually hang new photos on the walls and update my displays. Do you have others? Do you display your photos in your home?
Other related articles:
- How to Create a Family Photo Essay
- Click! How to take gorgeous photos of your kids – a dPS ebook
- How to photograph children {and other stuff} indoors
Editor’s challenge: this is something I feel strongly about as well, so I challenge you. If you have not got any printed photos of your own family around your house – do it now. Go select a few, order the prints, and get them framed. Or make a photo book. Or both! Involve your kids in helping select the images, make it a family project. Then take a photo of your newly hanging family artwork and share it with us here in the comments.