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Lately, it seems like I’ve been thinking more “photographically” than usual. Maybe it’s because of all the snapshots afforded by recent holidays. Maybe it’s because Wi-Pics is nearing completion, and we’re getting ready to go to PMA in a little over a month. Or maybe it’s because tax refund season is fast-approaching, and the prospect of perhaps investing in a new camera is more than a little exciting…

But one way or the other, my brain is once again in shutterbug mode. Add to this my recent successful installation of a DVD burner in my Linux box… Archives anyone?

A month-or-so ago (I really have no idea how long it was) I complained about having 14GB of digital pictures crowding my hard drive. I don’t think I mentioned that those photos are only from the years 2003 and 2004! So on Saturday, I pared down the ’03 images, deleting duplicates and blurred shots – and burned the year to a DVD.

And now I’m left with this nice shiny disc – memories and emotions, birthdays and anniversaries, trips to the park and trips across the country – all balled up and nestled in, ready to take up permanent residence on my bookshelf. And I have to ask: where are all those gigabytes of JPEGs and RAWs and TIFFs and MOVs headed?

Maybe in a few years I’ll find a few spare minutes to slip in the DVD and browse through My Life as a Recent College Grad. Or maybe some of those photos will make it into a slide show at my wedding. What if my kids find a DVD reader in a junk bin someday and decide to improvise their own rendition of “This is your life”?

In any case, the 2003 and 2004 DVDs full-o-images don’t really have much lasting significance. Yes, I’m probably one of a handful of people who will ever look at them, and I’m definitely one of an even smaller handful of people who will ever care about them. But they’re mine – they’re the record of a little piece of my life – and even if I’m the only person they’re ever important to, that would be enough.