dear photograph

dear photograph is a website with the tagline “take a picture of a picture from the past in the present”. i love to compare the old photo with the present day. you can always notice subtle differences. it's just so neat. each photo is also accompanied by a note. a letter of sorts. just a couple sentences. the minute i heard about this idea, i wanted to try it out.

so while spending time at my grandpa's house with my mom last weekend, i went through some pictures. my grandpa's house brings back a lot of great memories all by itself but the pictures definitely gave me that warm and fuzzy nostalgic feeling. even the pictures that were taken before my existence.

dear photograph,

me: age 4ish. this is one of my favorite photos of little me. first of all my outfit was just awesome. i'd wear it right now if i could. secondly, my expression. the only difference i can see in this photo are the modern trashcan and the door is now white instead of that mint green.

you still look like that sometimes.


another all time favorite photo of my mom (right) and aunt. i want to say this was taken in the early 70s.

the 70s seemed like so much fun. you girls are lucky to have experienced them.


my mom in her mid-late 20s. i love that it's a polaroid. i also love that you can tell it was taken on christmas because of the stockings hanging in the back ground.

i miss christmas at grandma & grandpa's house. i'm glad we still have the stockings.


me (left) and my cousin circa high school. early 2000s. not sure why i am dressed like a tangerine.

i loved when you came down to visit. i would cry every time you left. i only see you once a year these days but i hold on tight to those childhood memories of ours.


my uncle and aunt in high school? that bottom shelf behind them now holds pictures of me and my 3 other cousins.


this is just haunting to me. i feel like i'm watching my younger self or something.


everything still in the exact same place. just the updated version, except for the wire basket. i guess those haven't changed much in 20 years.


my mom holding baby me.


newborn me! apparently getting a bath. the counter and windowsill are the same but notice the curtains and i remember that watering can sitting on the ledge. i also love that you can see my grandma's and mom's hands.
hey kid, thankfully getting clean gets a hell of a lot easier!


my mom told me she was pregnant in this photo.
things have never been perfect but just like that hedge - we continue to grow.

sure things have changed since the original photos have been taken but i noticed that even more things haven't. so many little things are exactly the same when i was a kid, even when my mom was a kid.

it's like that quote from benjamin button: "it's a funny thing about comin' home. looks the same, smells the same, feels the same. you'll realize what's changed is you."