04 July 2011

Captured in time

Does anyone remember when you would go on a field trip you would always pack a disposable camera? This is before everyone had a digital camera, or cell phones had cameras (even before everyone had a cell phone!). Your name would be scrawled across it with a Sharpie so you wouldn't confuse it for someone else's. Of course, your parents thought it was so you would take pictures of the Liberty Bell, or the Washington Monument, or whatever other important thing you were going to see. But you always knew it was for snapping a picture of the boy you thought was cute who sat near you on the bus, or you and your girlfriends lined up and pretending to be the Spice Girls or the cast of the Rocky Horror Picture Show.
In a tiny cabinet I keep thousands of these photos from summer camp, field trips, European excursions and even just a regular day in high school. Each one is a moment captured in time. There were no do overs, there was no retouching. You snap the picture, and then you would have to wait to see it, wait to see what that moment held and the camera saved.
In Boston last weekend I realized that they wouldn't let me in to the Dispatch concert with my DSLR. We stopped to get a disposable camera and try our luck photographing the show, and if there was any film left, the rest of the weekend. Thinking about it now, its only fitting that I should take one of these to see Dispatch. When I fell in love with their music I was 14 at summer camp, and all we had were flimsy disposable cameras and the mystery and waiting to see what would develop.
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28 comments

  1. daisychainJuly 4, 2011 at 11:11 AM

    You are adorable xo

    ReplyDelete
  2. AprilJuly 4, 2011 at 11:16 AM

    Wow, those are actually really great photos for a disposable camera! I took two when I went abroad, but only 13 out of 40+ pictures actually developed. :(

    ReplyDelete
  3. Amber Rose, Laughing With Broken EyesJuly 4, 2011 at 11:20 AM

    I've had a bit of nostalgia lately, and really, disposable cameras were such a companion back in the days of girl scouts, late teenage concerts, etc.. It's sad to see things be forgotten.

    I adore these photos and your message.

    On a somewhat related note, rollip.com has effects for photos to make them look like disposable cameras or polaroids. :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. FlorenceJuly 4, 2011 at 11:56 AM

    cute pics!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Emily, Ruby Slipper JourneysJuly 4, 2011 at 12:02 PM

    I love disposable cameras. Can't even imagine travelling without my usual camera these days, but really, nothing beat disposable cameras! These are great!

    ReplyDelete
  6. RaquelJuly 4, 2011 at 12:03 PM

    I so remember being 13 and going on a field trip with school to see some historic places in a Portuguese town and taking a disposable camera! Of course I took some pictures of the monuments but most were of friends and cute boys hehe!

    Thanks for reminding me of this!

    You look especially pretty in the last photo.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Dilan DilirJuly 4, 2011 at 12:52 PM

    so cute!

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  8. tJuly 4, 2011 at 2:23 PM

    Cute pics!

    http://initialed.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  9. ShybikerJuly 4, 2011 at 2:34 PM

    I love old technology and the memories it created. Disposable cameras were your generation's version. We had Polaroids.

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  10. Julia Topaz, La Belle OiselleJuly 4, 2011 at 2:56 PM

    I still have a pile of yet-to-be-processed disposable cameras from the late 90s. If they're even processable, I wonder what treasures I'll find when I do.

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  11. AnonymousJuly 4, 2011 at 4:16 PM

    I don't have so much memories of those, as I was still a kid during that time they were in favour, but I remember I did get one of them on my birthday and that I used it to take weird photos of my friends. I still have all of those photos somewhere. And it really is something better with Disposable cameras then with digital. When you get the photos on paper, it feels so much better.

    ReplyDelete
  12. RebeccaJuly 4, 2011 at 4:43 PM

    I love the owl tee. Disposable cameras definitely have that nostalgic feel to them. There is something to be said for a photo that can't be changed/ re done over and over like we can these days.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Angel GarciaJuly 4, 2011 at 6:41 PM

    Oh, jeez! Of course I remember busting out the disposable cameras.. Nostalgia for sure! I laugh when I still see people using them.. Awesome photos by the way...

    All the best, Angel

    ReplyDelete
  14. YajairaJuly 4, 2011 at 8:39 PM

    cute necklace

    http://yajairasfashionnotes.blogspot.com/
    http://eleven23shop.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  15. MichalJuly 4, 2011 at 11:13 PM

    Ah it's so true! I always used to love getting disposable cameras. I remember getting one developed once only to find out that my cousin Rudy had used like half of it to take pictures of his feet. HAHA.

    That first picture is too adorbs.

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  16. sojourned in styleJuly 4, 2011 at 11:42 PM

    yes the disposable camera. so many memories of untouched raw photos. every now and then its nice to leave the digital world and take a bit further back in time.

    ReplyDelete
  17. LauraJuly 5, 2011 at 2:56 AM

    I remember getting back the photos and half of them were wonky because I never held the camera straight! These are great photos for a disposable camera!

    Laura
    whitewinters.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  18. Nicky｡♥July 5, 2011 at 4:15 AM

    oh beautiful post ^^

    ReplyDelete
  19. Green Tea and CupcakesJuly 5, 2011 at 6:09 AM

    Love disposable cameras, the anticipation of getting it developed is half the fun.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Victoria / Justice PirateJuly 5, 2011 at 11:46 AM

    haha yeah. gotta love those disposable cameras. My mom can't figure out a digital I bought her a few years ago so she still uses a disposable! :( Love these shots!

    ReplyDelete
  21. CAITLINJuly 5, 2011 at 3:24 PM

    i miss those days so much! i actually kind of hate the digital-obsessed world and look fondly back on the days before cell phones and photoshop... we grew up right on the cusp of the digital revolution! i do remember not-so-fondly getting a role of film back from a disposable camera after my eighth grade trip to montreal and realizing that there had been a light leak and all the photos were ruined. still...

    oh. and ps. i definitely took way too many secret photos of my middle school crush in the back of the bus.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Victoria / Justice PirateJuly 28, 2011 at 10:34 PM

    haha yeah. gotta love those disposable cameras. My mom can't figure out a digital I bought her a few years ago so she still uses a disposable! :( Love these shots!

    ReplyDelete
  23. YajairaJuly 28, 2011 at 10:34 PM

    cute necklace

    http://yajairasfashionnotes.blogspot.com/
    http://eleven23shop.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  24. Amber Rose, Laughing With BrokJuly 28, 2011 at 10:34 PM

    I've had a bit of nostalgia lately, and really, disposable cameras were such a companion back in the days of girl scouts, late teenage concerts, etc.. It's sad to see things be forgotten.

    I adore these photos and your message.

    On a somewhat related note, rollip.com has effects for photos to make them look like disposable cameras or polaroids. :)

    ReplyDelete
  25. Amber Rose, Laughing With BrokJuly 28, 2011 at 10:52 PM

    I've had a bit of nostalgia lately, and really, disposable cameras were such a companion back in the days of girl scouts, late teenage concerts, etc.. It's sad to see things be forgotten.

    I adore these photos and your message.

    On a somewhat related note, rollip.com has effects for photos to make them look like disposable cameras or polaroids. :)

    ReplyDelete
  26. Victoria / Justice PirateJuly 28, 2011 at 10:52 PM

    haha yeah. gotta love those disposable cameras. My mom can't figure out a digital I bought her a few years ago so she still uses a disposable! :( Love these shots!

    ReplyDelete
  27. RaquelJuly 28, 2011 at 10:52 PM

    I so remember being 13 and going on a field trip with school to see some historic places in a Portuguese town and taking a disposable camera! Of course I took some pictures of the monuments but most were of friends and cute boys hehe!

    Thanks for reminding me of this!

    You look especially pretty in the last photo.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Amber Rose, Laughing With BrokJuly 28, 2011 at 10:52 PM

    I've had a bit of nostalgia lately, and really, disposable cameras were such a companion back in the days of girl scouts, late teenage concerts, etc.. It's sad to see things be forgotten.

    I adore these photos and your message.

    On a somewhat related note, rollip.com has effects for photos to make them look like disposable cameras or polaroids. :)

    ReplyDelete

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