Taylor Jones - Dear Photograph

For all the times Id thought of moving out on my own, Im so thankful that I hadnt yet flown the coop. Again that night it was proven that everything good in my life has always started at home. We were just finishing up one of my favorite mealshomemade ribs and rice la Mom, which Ive come to crave and appreciate all the more since moving outand we decided to look through an old photo album together. We didnt have to go digging through half a dozen dusty boxes hidden away in the atticnope, not in the Joneses house. Mom, an avid scrapbooker, had piled our house high with hundreds of albums, which she had carefully filled with thousands and thousands of family photos. Our lives had been beautifully and thoroughly scrapbooked.

Keaton, my youngest brother, grabbed a blue photo album, the kind with plastic sheets inside to keep the photos protected. The album was from 1995 or so, and it featured photos of my younger self and family, back when fanny packs and big glasses were the fashionable items of the day and my wardrobe was incomplete without suspenders and OshKosh Bgosh overalls. We gathered around the kitchen table and began to look through the album. As Keaton turned the pages, I noticed a photo of a three-year-old Landonmy middle brotherbeaming beside his Winnie the Pooh birthday cake. When I looked closer, I realized that Landon had been sitting at the exact same table we were sitting at now, in the exact same chair. And when Mom had taken that old photo, shed been sitting where I currently sat.

I grabbed the photo from the plastic and held it up in front of me, matching the old photo of Landon against the present scene. It really is true: when the light goes on in your brain, everything seems to slow down and become very quiet, almost soundless. Everyone at the tableMom, Dad, Landon, Keaton, and even my dog, Myliegave me quite the looks. Dad asked, What in the world are you doing? Little did we know that this odd moment would start a worldwide viral phenomenon. I began running around the house with various old photos in hand, taking picture after picture, holding up each shot against its present location and snapping a new photo to capture the scene. The light bulb came on again, and I knew I had to share these photos with my friends.

I sat down at my computer and decided to upload the photos to a Tumblr blog. When I uploaded Landons winning grin and beloved cake, Tumblr asked for a caption. I wondered: What would Landon say to his picture if he could talk to it? I typed out a salutation: Dear Photograph. And then I thought, Landon has this swagger thing going on, a little bit of attitude and edginess mixed together with brotherly love. I finished the caption: Dear Photograph, I wish I had as much swag then as I do now. I showed it to Landon, and he loved it.

I posted it to my blog, along with five other photos. Every caption expressed my desire to reconnect in some way with my past, and every photo took me back in time, letting me relive each memory for one short moment. My friends loved the photos and shared them with other people, who in turn did the same. I then created a Dear Photograph Twitter feed and Facebook page. The number of hits seemed to grow exponentially day by day, and people from all over the world started submitting their beautiful photos and personal stories. The response astounded me.

It was mind-blowing to go from sixteen hits to one hundred to three thousand, and suddenly I was looking at a quarter of a million hits from Reddit, a social media site. After the news site Mashable picked up Dear Photograph, my idea began to create unbelievable buzz in media outlets worldwide. The experience was so surrealafter all, I was Taylor Jones, the kid who was always coming up with crazy ideas that never amounted to much, and finally Id created something that had value and meaning and a life of its own. I realized that Dear Photograph had truly struck a chord with people, no matter who they were or where they came from. People simply wanted to relive a moment, on their own or with someone special. These nostalgic moments seemed to warm a lot of hearts including my own.

As you turn these pages, its my sincere hope that you enjoy the Dear Photograph experience and share your fellow neighbors desires and wishes. If this book inspires you to search for those pictures of days gone by and revisit the places of your past, then Ill have achieved my goal. Find that one special photo and make your own Dear Photograph to add to the empty page left just for you in this book. In the meantime, put up your feet and take some time to reflect upon the people, places, and memories that hold deep meaning for you. I hope Dear Photograph will help you remember that time with friends and family is precious and fleeting. Suddenly, like the flash of the camera you arent here anymore.

Dear Photograph,
I wish I had as much swag now as I did then. Landon Jones How to Take a Great Dear Photograph

1. Select a photo from the past that means something to you.
2. Visit the site of the original photograph, and hold up the old photo in front of your camera.
3. Get in the right position: align the photograph with the real-life scene.
4. Make sure to get your hand in the picture. It shows that you stood at the original spot where the old photo was taken.
5. Check carefully to make sure the real-life background matches the edges of the photo from the past. Dont worry if the old photo isnt square with the new photo when youre lining them up. Its more important to have a great match with the present background.
6. Hold still
7. Take the shot! (And take some extras so you have a few to choose from.)
8. Write a caption that addresses the photograph. You might write about the subject or the setting of the photo, or you might express a desire to revisit the moment.

   Its important to speak to what the photograph means to you.

9. Submit your cherished memory to
   www.DearPhotograph.com.