Practice Waiting

When I was about 12 years old, I bought my first Instamatic Kodak camera with money I earned babysitting the neighbor’s kids. After I took a roll of film, I used a special 5x7 envelope to mail the film cartridge to a company in another state to be developed. Then, I had to wait for what seemed like a really long time, for the prints to be returned, along with new envelopes for my next roll of film.

This camera is almost as old as I am. I bought it with babysitting money when I was a kid and was so excited to start taking photos.  

When I moved to Chicago I bought my first 35 mm Pentax camera. After I took a roll of film, I walked to the busy neighborhood camera store near Broadway and Addison to get it developed. The woman behind the counter wrote the pick up date on my receipt. It usually took about a week. It was hard to wait.

Then, I took a photography class and learned how to set up a darkroom and make my own photo prints. It took about two days to develop and print the photos. The first day I developed the film and hung it up to dry. The second day I used an enlarger to print the photos. So quick, I thought.

This summer, traveling to Spain, I used my iPhone to take photos and saw the images instantly. No waiting.

I no longer wait with anticipation to get an envelop of photos in the mail, or to pick up prints at the store, or to turn on the light in the darkroom. Less waiting. I like the instant access to my photos, but I am left feeling that something has been lost.

I took a selfie (with my iPhone) of me holding my Canon digital camera. I can download the photos in minutes.

I printed this photograph from film I developed in my darkroom.

In the darkroom I learned that minutes could feel like hours and hours could feel like minutes. Waiting to turn on the light for that first glimpse of the photograph, the minutes felt like hours. Yet at the end of the day the five hours I spent working in the darkroom felt like minutes. Time had little to do with the clock and more to do with the heart.

I used my iPhone to take this photo of my husband Bob while walking the Camino. It took one second to realize it was one of my favorites.

Take it or leave it suggestion #7: practice waiting