People typically hire photographers when something new has happened — a new baby, a new marriage, a new school, a new degree.
We love celebrating the new, and there isn’t anything inherently wrong with that.
But I do think we like to forget about the old.
In some respects, there are some things best left in the past — like those bad habits we’ve strived all our adult lives to overcome.
But even in this regard, the past teaches us about not only who we are in the present but how we got there. We can then use those mistakes, the ones we would rather forget, to help others who might struggle with the same things we did in the past. How did we overcome? And pass that on.
We can’t simply forget it all.
But the old is also something to be revered. Our older family and community members should have our honor and respect. Showing those things requires our time, our patience, and our love.
Consider Deuteronomy 32:7: “Remember the days of old; consider the years of many generations; ask your father, and he will show you, your elders, and they will tell you.”
Something as simple as cherishing a small blanket a grandmother made for your child (their grandchild) is a nod of respect and love to them (see picture above from my most recent newborn shoot with the Rains family).
Holding onto family heirlooms and cherishing what past generations have passed on to us — whether that be as simple as a photograph, gift, or passing on their stories to the next generation — is essential to our heritage in our physical and spiritual family.