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Dear Photograph. Pictures From The Past Into The Present

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The concept is simple: take a picture of a picture, from the past, in the present. Over the past year, the website received thousands of submissions. In fact, enough for a book, also called Dear Photograph, which was released last year.

Taylor Jones, 23, is the man behind the project. He came up with the idea last year while sitting at his parents' kitchen table. While flipping though a family photo album, he stumbled across a picture of his younger brother, Landon.

"It was his third birthday," Jones says. "He had a Winnie the Pooh cake, and I was sitting in the same spot my mom was when she took the original photo." Landon was also sitting in his same birthday seat.

So, Jones held up the old picture — taking care to line up kitchen cupboards just so — and snapped a photo. He posted it on his blog, and the rest, he says, is history.

"I'm a new-age nostalgic guy, I guess you could say," he says.

You can submit your photograph on Dear Photograph's blog.

Source: dearphotograph.com/

1

Dear Photograph,
My family has been vacationing each summer in Kennebunkport, ME for over 25 years. While the restaurants and shops may have changed when you cross the bridge from Kennebunk to Kennebunkport, the happiness of being in that town is the same.
Jaime

 

2

Dear Photograph,
This is me when I was four years old. I would beg my parents to bring me to this park so I can slide down my favorite slide. Time to time, I would come back here to slide, even if I grew 3 times the size I was when I was this little.
Kevin

 

3

Dear Photograph,
This is my sister with my dad in front of my favorite castle, when she was only 2 years old. Time goes by so quickly. She’s now almost as tall as he is and right now she’s having her final exams in college. I’m thinking of you. Love you.
Judy

 

4

Dear Photograph,
I’m tearing up as I write this. This was my mommy my best friend. We planned our trip in ‘96 to Machu Picchu, Cusco, Peru on a whim. I was 16 and though it was the greatest thing ever. 17 years later I stand here with my husband carrying her spirit. Every trip I take I know she’s with me. I love you mommy. You are missed and will always be remembered. Your little traveler.
Silvia 

 

5

Dear Photograph,
He may not be my biological father, but he has always been my daddy.
Tammy

 

6

Dear Photograph,
People have asked me why I love photography and over the years I have leaned that its simply because I hate change. Even when times and people and circumstances change, memories don’t, photographs don’t. And I think that is exactly why we hang them everywhere, because for a brief moment, even in the utter chaos of life’s changes, things become normal again when we look at them; even if just for that moment. I guess I love photography because photographs never change, even when every little thing in them does.Our home is a quiet place now that my sister and I have moved away, but when I look at this photograph,I am six years old again, my family is always just a few rooms away, and I believe in everything.
-Sarah

 

7

Dear Photograph,
This is a picture of myself, my cousins Kris and Jay, my brother Kevin and my Uncle Pauly, taken by my father Kevin some time in the late 80’s. All of us native NY’ers, our dads were taking us on a trip to climb the Statue of Liberty and see Ellis Island. We can still remember climbing to the crown, and feeling so accomplished.

In the original photo, we were posing with Lady Liberty for Uncle Pauly, when Uncle Kevin saw the opportunity to snap the original picture with the Twin Towers in the background.

Nearly 25 years later, on the eve of the 12th anniversary of 9/11/2001, my cousin Kris Lo Presto (left most in picture) and Erin Parker brought this photo back to the Statue of Liberty and snapped this pic.

Brian Mount

 

8

Dear Photograph,
My sister and I ready for our first day of school. How the time flies…
Flora

 

9

Dear Photograph,
40 years ago she was the most beautiful grandma of the beach. The one who gave me the little self confidence i have. She’s been gone for one year now. I miss her.
Sidonie

 

10

Dear Photograph,
A year and a half ago my brother (right) died suddenly at 43. I miss him terribly. The original photo of the two of us in the snow in front of our childhood home was shot around 1975. I came to town for a wedding and snapped this today.
Ray

 

11

Dear Photograph,
This is a picture taken of my brother and cousins (and Bandit, the dog) back in 1993 at Glen Lock in Irvine Park, Chippewa Falls, WI.
My brother passed away in 2009, but the park was his favorite place to be.
Theresa

 

12

Dear Photograph,
The unforgettable Red Rocks of Sedona, Arizona… I returned today and reflected, 17 years later with this photo in hand. Though we lost you to cancer, Dad, I’m grateful to have this memory to cherish in your absence. Until we meet again.
Rachel

 

13

Dear Photograph,
Here I am as a little boy, with my great grandfather I met for the first time and his beloved Jovi the Poodle. They returned home in Belgrade, Serbia for the first time in 50 years. Spending almost all of his life in Alaska, he had a small gold mine there. Sadly, soon after this photo was taken, he went on vacation, never to return. All I have now is this photograph of the three of us and a ring with a golden nugget that he gave me.

While making this image, I realized the full power of “Dear Photograph” phenomenon. When I looked through the viewfinder and “connected” the photo with reality, the past and present aligned. It was a deep, nostalgic and very emotional moment. Suddenly I was taken back 31 years, standing on the same place, looking at the same building, together with my grandpa and his little Jovi. Precious moment.

Ivan

14

Dear Photograph,
Nothing like a well dressed man on a bike.
-@TJ

 

15

Dear Photograph,
This is me on my first day of kindergarten. It was a great first day of school because I didn’t cry for once, compared to preschool. But now I’m here standing tall, ready to learn. 17 years later, I’m back to reminisce my early days as a student, as I prepare myself for my last year in college.
Kevin

 

By Janet Duane

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