Before digital photography, there were photographic negatives and prints, which in turn replaced mounted slides. In each case a more convenient format replaced a less convenient one.
Every few months, our family gathers for a slide-show evening (the real sort, not something involving digital images or Microsoft Powerpoint). It is always interesting, and there is often a lot of laughter at images of our younger selves and of friends and family who we remember fondly but are no longer with us.
I am in the process of sorting through some of the slides. As I do so, I am realising that the cost of convenience is the loss of magic that comes from handling a slide. It is pure magic to pop a slide into a projector, or put it onto a lightbox and have instant memories of events and times previously forgotten.
Today’s photo is of slides that my father took before I was born. I am amazed at how similar the subjects my Dad chose to photograph are to those that I like to photograph today. The medium may change, but some things don’t. That is also magic.
Night Cycling 