I found out about an original photography contest from a place where I never thought I would see this. From a post in LeoFinance. I found there a reference to the invitation to the contest made by @enginewitty. All the details here Memory Lane😌 - A Photography Contest?. I say it's worth a try, the prizes are more than generous.
The theme of the contest invites you to a nostalgic memory of the past moments but saved with the help of your smartphone and iCloud or Google Photos applications. The first five photos with their stories.
When I saw the theme I knew that it is mandatory to participate because my favorite saying is: "Every picture tells a story"!
Unfortunately, I will not be able to fully comply with the "first five" rule (if I understood the rule correctly). This works for those who do not take many photos. I, on the other hand, am sick of photography, I photograph almost everything I see around me and I photograph every subject dozens of times. If I followed this rule, all five of my photos would actually be just one, made from different angles.
This habit of mine had another drawback, namely, the rapid occupation of the entire space allocated by Google. That's why I had to save some of the photos and delete most of them from Google Photos.
In this situation, I find myself in the situation of choosing a photo from each year that has passed since I started using Google Photos, that is, from 2015. I know that this could lead to a disqualification but it doesn't matter. The theme of this contest is much too much to my liking not to participate.
Of the thousands of memories, only five now!
I chose these five photos. It was a great pleasure for me to remember those moments, I don't really remember the past, I can't tell facts and events that happened years ago but now I find that looking at these photos I remember perfectly the context in which they were made. So I (still) have memory, but it's more visual! A discovery made thanks to this contest!
Early spring 2015. I live in a pretty big city and that means more concrete and less nature. The need for nature, for the beauty of nature that wakes up after a hard winter, sends me to the largest park in the city. The park is called Herastrau and is located in Bucharest, the capital of Romania. A good part of this park borders the Village Museum, one of the oldest and most beautiful museums in Romania. On an area of several hectares are exposed old houses, brought from all regions of the country.
Early summer in 2016. Strange, now I discovered that this is the only photo from that year. I can't figure out what happened.
In Bucharest there is another park that I like a lot, it is called Circus Park because the circus building is located at the entrance of the park. But it's not because of the circus that I love this park. The park is small, in the middle of the city, surrounded by blocks of flats and boulevards. What is spectacular is that in the middle is a small pond where Egyptian lotuses grow. It is the only place in the country where these water flowers exist and it is remarkable that it withstands the harsh winters in Romania. The flowers are beautiful and I look forward to the beginning of summer to admire them again!
Late-autumn 2017. I think that the suite of photos includes the attraction for nature, the nostalgia of the lost nature from the childhood spent in the country. In the same Herastrau park, late autumn, my wife loves to feed the squirrels. They are used to receiving food and are friendly, they are not afraid of people. The fact that there are more photos from the parks is due to the weekly walks we take there.
Mid-summer 2018. Because I remembered my childhood. Every year I visit my childhood home at least once. Far away, in the north of the country. The place where I was free and I didn't realize it until much later. Now my brother lives there and his children, my grandchildren, are very happy when we visit them.
Nostalgia is maximum! My childhood memories overwhelm me ... and yet, I have changed profoundly, I feel like I couldn't live there for more than a week. Something is calling me to return to my home in the crowded city.
Mid-summer 2019. A year away from home, a year spent in a beautiful city called Iasi. A place we liked a lot, with hundreds of remarkable monuments and buildings, with a special history. Beyond all this, nature was the most pleasing to us, that's why the Botanical Garden, the most beautiful in our country, remains the most pleasant memory. The fact that I ran for butterflies I can't forget.
As I found out in preparation for this post, photography can be a therapy. A therapy against forgetfulness! At the same time, photography is a generator of nostalgia. I am a consumer of nostalgia, it is one of my favorite feelings. Thank you!
