...and i guess that i just don't know

Stuart, VA polaroids





My sister, Lee Ann, at 9 months

Me at 9 months

Me at 1 year


I visited my mom and sister again this weekend, and went with my sister and her boyfriend to Stuart, VA. I brought the polaroid I just bought along with me and took the first 4 shots of today's post in and around Stuart. The images on the blog aren't really indicative of the true quality of the photos because of the cheap scanner I used. Despite using a polaroid, the actual photos are a little sharper and the colors are somewhat more vibrant. One of the things I like about polaroids, though, is the element of chance and the inclusion of blemishes/accidents that can be mostly be erased with digital images.

I loaded the photos onto the blog at my mom's house, and as I scanned them to the computer I noticed that my mom had saved a few old polaroids of me and my sister when we were babies. I'm not sure they're of interest to anyone else, but I think they're pretty cool. The last one is kind of eerie with the flash and the giant bunnies, but I like it. If nothing else, the photos show that me and my sister were pretty cute kids.

I was planning on also saying something about the existential purity of polaroids in an age where innumerable copies of digital images can be made (or when they only exist in cyberspace), but I may save that for later or just forget about it altogether. I've been reading a lot of theory concerning photography, and it alternately inspires me and then makes me want to vomit. These are no doubt minor, amateur shots but I think they can speak to issues concerning memory, loss--the space between ourselves and our memories/ourselves and the world.