It was a hot day in Anaheim, California. The weather app said that it would be in the high 90’s and to prepare sun screen was a must. We woke her up early for the most magical vacation in her life, so far. She has never been to Disneyland before, and therefore she has never experienced the exciting joy and magic that comes with it. At the same time she is only four years old. The capacities of her mind are limited, so she is not able to fully comprehend the cheery atmosphere around her. In order to preserve those moments we all took turns taking a candid picture here, and a still image there. We wanted to preserve the moment, to keep it alive.
As the day went on, we kept taking pictures. The parade started around 3:30pm and the sun was at its peak, directly above our heads. We felt bad for the dancers performing their second round of choreographed moves for the day, but the kidswere excited as they danced around in the streets with them. Being as enthusiastic as possible, she danced as well but her modesty got in the way of her fully letting loose.
She was excited, as excited as any four year old could be, but not knowing what to expect her excitement was limited to our moods. She would put on a cheery face for the camera, and then relax afterwards with a more bewildered look. She went on all rides, and didn’t even cry when something scared her. She was a trooper, and as the day continued she grew more exhausted with each step and with each minute. Nonetheless, she pushed and struggled to keep herself at the pace of the environment around her.
Finally, the day wound down to its closure, as did her strength. We tried to keep her awake for the fireworks, but her little mind dozed off into her subconscious and sleep overwhelmed her. As she slept, a few more shots of her sleeping were taken, but the camera was put away. The whole point was to document these events for her to see, not necessarily for us. There was no point at taking pictures while she slept—we would just be creating memories that were never actually real for her. We made sure that she would have the memories through the stream of pictures, and she would always be able to look back at her first visitto the most magical place on earth and see what she did and saw that day.
Just like with realism, we constructed a coherent set of pictures in hopes that one day all of this will seem real to her. Being a four year old means that in a few years or so her memory of the event will no longer be vivid—there may be no recollection at all. In order to prevent that we documented every detail, and tried to make the events as continuous as possible. The pictures stream in a coherent way without much of a break or a lapse in continuity, which is a main feature of realism. In order to do that with pictures, however, meant that we needed to have a camera at hand at all times of the day—have the camera out and ready to document the next adventure.
In addition, like with any form of media, we used the pictures to preserve his moment that would have been forgotten without the beauty of photography and video. Media, including films, photography, and sound are unlike anything else, for they withstand the test of time. Our bodies and minds are weaker and eventually fade, away with it our memories. Through pictures, however, we can all see what she felt that day, no matter who looks at them, and we can all relive the most exciting parts. Although our memories may go, you can travel back to the past through any media that you decide to make, allowing everyone to relive those moments they cherish the most.
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