Memory keeping on the move 1 – capturing everyone’s visual memory

 

I enjoy travelling and exploring new places and I’ve had plenty of opportunities to visit some interesting places for work and on holiday. Since I started scrapbooking in 2006 I have used several different methods to create special holiday albums and to scrap while travelling. I thought others might be interested in what I have done and what worked for me. So each week I’m going to showcase one of the projects that I have used to record my travels.

Memory keeping on the move 1 – capturing everyone’s visual memory

In 2007 I went on a safari holiday in Malawi, Africa with my parents, sister and nephews. We took over 3,000 photos over two weeks, on 4 cameras. I have made a big album with double pages for elephants, where we stayed etc and my Dad created a photobook.

But I also made a small accordion album the week that I got back with is more of a snapshot of each of our visuals memories of the trip

Here’s how I did it -

On the second last night of our trip I asked each person to make a list of the 5 images that for them were strongest or summed up the trip. We shared the lists at dinner and I wrote them all down. When I got home I created a collage for each person with their 5 images and a picture of that person.  I made a copy of the collage for each person and also a set for me which I put together in a simple accordion album. On the page facing the collage for each person I listed the images. On the second night at dinner I had asked everyone for their first impressions and recorded them too on this page. 

Here is my collage

[birds flying overhead; mud hut villages, multiple animals grazing together; markets; hippo]

In our vast collection of photos I was able to find an image for everything on the list. I think it helped that there were 4 of us taking photos as we each had a different approach to what to snap. We all took the wildlife but after that - if it was a detail of birds or plants it was Dad, if it was lovely light or a landscape view it was my sister and if it was narrative or something quirky then it was me. And I knew what my teenage nephews were like so I had taken a picture of elephant poo – and yes one of them included that on his list of images and it is in his collage.

One item was in 5 of the 6 lists – hippos

I think this set of collages adds another dimension to our albums of the trip because it is so immediate. The images we remember several years later are not all the same as the ones we listed at the end of the trip.

I would definitely do this again for a group trip where there were several people taking photos and there was a big visual focus of the trip.

Next week – a daily journal on the move.