I was recently going through some old pictures. As I was looking at them I realized that what I enjoyed looking at was more than the people in the photo, it was also the background.
This picture of me sitting on my dad's lap is a perfect example. When I saw it I immediately was drawn to the kitchen I grew up in. I scanned the shelves in the cabinet noticing the Tupperware tumblers that we drank out of, the beautiful blue glass jars lining the counter (that I wasn't allowed to play with). And of course the Wonder Woman place mat...all great memories.
So what's my point? Simple. If this were a picture of my daughter sitting on my husbands lap that I was getting ready to scrapbook, I would crop out everything but the people. I would pay no attention to what at that moment is simply a messy background. But to those viewing the photo 30 years later, the messy background is just a fun to look at and brings back just as many memories as the people in the photo.
My answer to the scrapbooker's question of to crop or not to crop is....NOT to crop. At least don't crop them all! One day your child will look at your scrapbook and say something as silly as "I loved that place mat." And isn't that the purpose of scrapbooks...documenting our life to spark the great memories later?
1 comment:
I wholeheartedly agree with you on the not cropping. I don't know how many photos I have that have such interesting backgrounds. I look at old photos of my parents when they were young and am grateful that the regular household things are also preserved. Our children deserve to have that preservation as well! :)
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