I have recently lost a friend to cancer. I have several photos of her, and they have become part of a kind of shrine, though I want to say it's not a morbid thing, but more of a corner of my garden that is dedicated to her, my memories of her, and so on.

I am curious about how others deal with photos- are they captured glimpses of our friends, etc, and in a sense worthy of regard? Or are they bits of plastic and celluloid that hold no spiritual value? Is a painting or sketch of a person a more valid image? If so, why so?

I like my shrine to her. It's full of peace, and I'm not ashamed to say that I often offer bit of food (bread, wine, occasionally a yorkshire pudding as those were her faves) to it. More than one Guinness has been shared with the ground there.

About the photos, tho- have others found solace in them? Do they give you comfort?

Etayne

I was once told that after someone goes you start to have problems recalling their face. It wasn't anything to be upset about, just that they had moved from your head to your heart. So I like photo's. Just to help my head with what my heart feels

Some African tribe members (Pygmy) I think, don't like photos because they believe they capture the soul. And in a way, they may be right, photos can capture the essence of the person frozen in a moment of time.

I'm a photo journalist (just a high sounding title to a very mundane, doing fluff stuff for a small community paper) but I have been into photography for about 20 years and take photos of my friends, especially at parties or at the local tavern often.

I have a photo of mom sitting on top of her ashes in my bedroom with a statue of Mary, Mother of God. Not my belief but mom was a RC and the statue actually belonged to my grandmother. I also added a rose quartz crystal.

It's a comfort to me more than anything else I think. She may be gone, but she is also home.

I know that photos are something that the Japanese almost consider sacred, for the same reason that Gypsimoon mentioned, they capture a little of the subject's soul. I like that. I see it as a good thing, and it does (to me) happen, for the reasons that have been mentioned here already: you look at photos of people you love and for an instant it's like they're there with you.

I don't have many photos. My ex, when he emptied the house, took all the photos and refused to return any, so I don't have any of my parents or brother or friends. And it does sadden me greatly, things have happend to people in the pictures and it would be lovely to see photos to remember them by, but I'll have to rely on memories.

I think that is an absolutly beautiful thing you are doing in memory of your friend Etayne. You keep the bond between the two of you alive beyond death. That is very strong.

Photos don't do it for me at all. I think they only reflect what you want them to.

Remember that one?



Umm... Wonder what's going on there...?

I also like to keep memories close to my heart and in my head. I don't like looking at old pictures because they show something that is no more and there is no point in it. Maybe I will change when someone close to me dies but I rather doubt that.

When my father passed 20 years ago, we had loads of photos around, gradually decreasing as the *gap* closes, but I was looking at them recently, and all of a sudden he's become a contemporary, or I have as I'm now just 7 years younger than when he died, This is a very strange sensation. My mother is still with us, she is 84.
But I do like photos, digital and real ones.

I follow you on this Baldur.

For me photos are there to refresh my memory. I don't display them but look at them when I feel the need.