Photograph

Make: Long forgotten. Megapixel: Two. Zoom: Lame.
Irregular patterns stretched across the animal’s broad shoulders, and crawled up its outstretched neck. A girl, a little older than I, stood beside me, blond wavy hair fell over her eyes slightly. She smiled at me and we both looked up to see the tall, patchy creature. A creature I only knew to be a giraffe from books, photos, and of course my favorite Disney movie. The creature came to life before my eyes as I held up my first camera, documenting my first trip to the zoo, and the start of a long friendship.

Make: Unknown. Megapixel: Unknown. Zoom: Unknown.
A new home brings a whole new photo album. The old photos begin to fade, and turn a cruel shade of sepia. Holding memories you only wish you could turn back to color. Christmas is supposed to bring family and the fresh smell of cookies. Not a stranger’s apartment and a mattress on a cold floor, while footsteps above your head keep you awake through the night. Meanwhile, your mother’s arms are wrapped around a waist that has replaced your fathers. A new camera that makes your old photos look pixelated and dim in comparison. Yet there seems to be nothing worth capturing on the new screen. A screen that was sure to be cracked within the month.

Make: Canon power shot A430. Megapixel: Five. Zoom: Four times, optical. Note: Amazing macro.
Three girls smiled and wrapped arms around each other as a flash illuminated their faces. Three girls laughing, and goofing around, one smart, one beautiful, one was the glue that kept them together. All silly, and unafraid to live and explore new things. Three girls who hadn’t known each other for very long, were about to become as inseparable as musketeers, and just as entertaining. This photo is a happy one, full of color and love. Only sad because what once was reality, is after all, just a photo.

Make: Canon A460. Megapixel: Five. Zoom: Four times, optical. Note: Amazing macro.
I didn’t want a new camera. I wasn’t ready to move on to another point of view on my life. I didn’t need a new scene or photo album. Behind the fake smiles in the photos, I could see my mother’s job sliding and our house falling apart. I held on as long as I could, but when my camera was stolen, I knew it was time to get a new one. With a new way of capturing our lives, comes a new part of life. A place you once called home and swore you’d never leave, now brings cold fingers and just enough food to make it through the week.

Make: Canon SX10IS. Megapixel: Ten. Zoom: Twenty times, optical. Note: Incredible zoom and flippy screen.
A new home full of heat, fresh food and shiny, expensive things I never dreamed I would have at my fingertips. A home that is not my own. Hidden behind the picture perfect green grass and flowers, lies resentment and being treated like a burden. Afternoons spent with my best friend shed light on the setting. Best friends since birth, she was beautiful and didn’t know it. We loved taking pictures together and of each other. We posed, smiled, frowned, and laughed. We would turn the camera for a different angle and play with different colors and effects. We were so close that we knew all of each others best angles and features. I loved her so, and it hurt when we became distant; merely saying hello as we passed in the halls. When I feel alone and miss her smile, I can look back at our happy photographs.
On the other hand, there was my best guy friend. The closest I’ve ever been to a guy who I was not dating. We spent our evenings cracking jokes at the dinner table and our days walking barefoot through creeks. I smiled, standing in the water holding my shoes for a picture as the familiar sound of a shutter went off, barely audible over the soft crash of the flowing creek. The photo hangs on his wall, a reminder of the past and hopes of a future.

Today, my camera sits in its case. It has not been there long but if I don’t take it out soon it will begin to collect dust, causing prints to come out fuzzy, and distorted. Lying in the grass, arms around me, I feel his warmth, and hear his heartbeat. Someone to love and care about me, hold my hand and kiss me softly. As I smile and snap a photo, lips pressed against my cheek, someone else is on his bed, book in hand. He stares up at a picture frame on his wall. A picture that used to look crystal clear appears unfocused. So he gets a cloth and wipes the dust from the frame, making the photo look good as new. Even though this part of my life feels like it is coming to an end, the dust can always be wiped away. As I snap a photo, lips pressed against my cheek, I know my camera has still got a lot of kick left in it. Besides, I still have a half empty photo album yet to be filled.