The Gift of Boring Photographs | Janet Boyko | TEDxYouth@ShorelineBlvd
Photographing ordinary, overlooked moments is a gift that helps preserve memories and tells a personal story. The speaker encourages attendees to take one photo of something interesting right now to serve as a gift to their future selves. This practice transforms the camera into a "visual diary" or a "new kind of selfie" focused on personal observation rather than social comparison.
## Speakers & Context
- Unnamed photographer; giving a talk to an audience at a "memorable event."
- Provides services as a documentary family photographer.
- Observes that attendees might wonder if the talk will be boring, implying the topic is unconventional.
## Theses & Positions
- Photographing ordinary moments—those "that Others May often overlook"—is a valuable service and practice.
- The goal of documentary photography is to create "honest images of family interactions and connections," focusing on what life *felt* like, rather than staged portraits.
- Taking photographs is a "gift that can help you remember" things that naturally change over time (people, places, objects).
- The camera should be viewed as a "catalyst for creativity for capturing moments and for appreciating my life and telling my life stories."
- The practice should encourage noticing what is "interesting to you," suggesting that interest is subjective ("interesting is in the eye of the beholder").
- The ultimate aim of photography is to use the camera lens to "really see and notice what's around us and to keep a diary of what is interesting to us through our lives."
## Concepts & Definitions
- **Documentary family photography:** A practice involving spending time with a family to photograph unposed, unstaged moments of natural interaction.
- **Visual diary:** The concept of taking one photograph every day of something interesting to create a visual thread throughout one's life.
- **New kind of selfie:** A self-reflective form of photography using the camera lens for personal observation rather than social comparison.
## Mechanisms & Processes
- **Documentary Family Session Method:** The photographer spends time with the family doing what they enjoy, photographing spontaneous actions like playing with a dog, laughing, or crying from a scrape.
- **Photo Capture as Memory Aid:** A picture can bring back a "whole flood of memories" related to the time the shutter was clicked.
- **Scavenger Hunt Approach:** The act of finding and documenting beautiful or interesting items during walks, which is like "collecting images."
- **Daily Photo Habit:** Taking just one photo per day of something interesting creates a life-long visual record.
## Examples & Cases
- **Family Documentary:** Photographing genuine moments—like playing with a dog or laughing—instead of formal, uncomfortable portraits.
- **Personal Evolution:** Illustrates the change over time by showing photos of her bedroom from middle school (featuring seventh-grade friends and Garfield sheets), high school (with new posters), college, and finally her current apartment.
- **Marriage Duration:** Her high school boyfriend's photo on the nightstand is now of her husband of 26 years.
- **Artistic Inspiration:** The German couple Baron and Hilla Becker photographed seemingly mundane subjects like "water towers and cooling towers and grain elevators and coal bunkers."
- **Ancestral Photos:** Sharing a precious photograph of her great great great grandmother as a baby, which preserves details that might otherwise be lost.
- **Object Observation:** Suggests photographing mundane things like restaurant exteriors, neighborhood signs, cars, clothing, or items in a purse.
## Named Entities
- **Baron and Hilla Becker:** German couple photographers who spent years photographing seemingly boring infrastructure like water towers, cooling towers, etc.
- **Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City:** Location where the Becker's exhibit was displayed.
## Numbers & Data
- Age of marriage: **26 years**.
- Year of middle school photo: **1982**.
## Tools, Tech & Products
- **Camera:** Used generally; implied technology for capturing images.
- **Phone:** Specifically noted as the tool for immediate action, suggesting most people carry a smartphone camera.
- **Film Camera:** Mentioned as the type used for the 1982 photograph.
## Trade-offs & Alternatives
- **Traditional Selfies:** Are useful for remembering the face for family/generations to come, but risk getting caught up in comparing oneself to others.
- **Documentary Photography vs. Portraiture:** Choosing documenting action over creating staged portraits.
- **Observing vs. Remembering:** Recognizing that life and objects inevitably change, making photographs vital tools against forgetting.
## Methodology
- **For Clients:** Spending time in the client's environment to observe and document natural interactions.
- **For Self/Audience:** Implementing the "one photograph a day" rule to create a continuous "visual diary."
- **Guiding Principle:** Using the question, *"What do I find interesting?"* to guide observation, acknowledging that personal interest is subjective.
## Conclusions & Recommendations
- Take one photograph right now of a detail in the room, whether it’s a selfie, a person, or the stage.
- Start viewing photography not just as image creation, but as a mindful, intense process of "savoring life every hundredth of a second."
- Use the camera as a "catalyst" to experience and appreciate life's passing moments.
## Verbatim Moments
- *"A documentary means that I work to make photographs that are unposed and unstaged."*
- *"I want to create photographs from my families that remind them not only of what life looked like but what life felt like."*
- *"What do you find interesting?"*
- *"photographs are a gift that can help you remember."*
- *"Photography is a gift that can help you remember."*
- *"Interesting is in the eye of the beholder."*
- *"photography is not just about the images you create but about this experience you have while creating them and telling your story."*
- *"imagine if you took one photo a day of something interesting just one photo every day"*
- *"this is my bedroom from middle school... my Garfield sheets... my baby bassinet is still there..."*
- *"photography is a catalyst for creativity for capturing moments and for appreciating my life and telling my life stories"*
- *"imagine just one photo a day taking pictures is savoring life intensely every hundredth of a second"*