image – vicki archer
I have made a promise to myself to arrange my photographs… in particular my travel and family shots… when I saw this album, pictured above, in the market at Aix-en-Provence I knew the time had come. The photographs I take for FRENCH ESSENCE look after of themselves as I consider the blog a diary and a record of thoughts and talks over a period of time… I often scroll back and am reminded of when, where and why I chose a particular shot to share with you… That is the beauty of photographs, they instantly trigger a memory. As I was arranging the ‘font’ images this week I remembered exactly where I was in Paris when I snapped them… not really having any reason to take them at that time other than the pure enjoyment of looking up and clicking away… Yesterday when my mind was full of the ‘French font‘ I remembered my Saturday morning stroll through the back streets of the 6th arrondissement and I knew exactly why those images had appealed to me..
I am nowhere near as organised when it comes to the family happy snaps… I take plenty of them but they sit and gather memory on my computer…Sometimes I make online albums as a way of keeping them together but I am ashamed to admit not as often as I should. The real truth is that I prefer classic photograph albums… the old fashioned paper-with-hard-cover-style way of archiving pictures. There is something so comforting about flicking through albums… lounging around and reminiscing… sharing memories, laughing over how we looked and remembering when… It’s just not the same hunched over a computer watching a slide show… So… that means this year I am printing the images that resonate and I am going to create ‘real’ albums…
The gift of a photograph is one of the best…Don’t you think? I like to present them on card stock, border them in ink and write a small caption underneath… Pop them in a matching envelope and tie some twine around the centre… This is such a wonderful gesture to both give and receive… I use the calligraphy pen that I spoke about a few weeks ago or a silver, gold or white ink depending on the occasion and while it’s not quite as charming as the album I captured above, this style of presentation is very lovely… and so simple to do…
This weekend I am browsing my photographs… ordering albums… and choosing what to print… Do you like creating real albums… or am I too behind the times? xv
Card Stock… Here
Natural Twine… Here
Calligraphy pens… Here
