pics that make me happy

an archive of joy

I have a folder on my desktop called pics that make me happy. I created this folder when I was in St Andrews, I believe in my second year, during a fit to clean up my cluttered desktop (procrastination). The folder now contains 236 images, and like a box of old mementos in an attic, I rarely click through it. It’s the destination for whatever has been sitting on my screen too long. Kind of a time capsule. A mechanism for saving. Saving for what? I’m not yet sure.

Two weeks ago, my laptop broke. It was old, it was undramatic. My first thought: pics that make me happy. Is this neglected collection doomed to erasure? To my own shock (and delight), everything on my laptop was backed up. Everything. Even my pics that make me happy. So today, I share a selection with you as a photo essay.

I’ve personally felt detached from my “photographic practice” and want to make a concerted effort to celebrate my work as a photographer. I justified my detachment with the reasoning that I’d be traveling soon. I always feel inspired to take pictures when I’m somewhere new. (You may have noticed, quite a bit of my LR archive is curated by place.) But plans change. I have a box of unused film next to my untouched camera on my desk.

In writing, you never wait for inspiration. Inspiration is like a lightning strike. I just don’t have that kind of time! Why should photography be any different? I want to pay more attention. I want to document the everyday (every day? everyday). The Dutch genre painters did it, and I freaking love those interior scenes. So here it goes - I aim to finish all of the film I have by the end of the year. Maybe some of them will land in my treasure chest (pics that make me happy).