Why Kids Take Photos

It is not so much that they want a photo to maintain a memory of an event or era of life, or a photo to show how pretty they are today, or how macho they are, or even a photo to show how creative they are with a project …no it is for other reasons that kids take photos.

It seemed one of those mysteries of life that needed investigating. So I put on my imaginative investigator cap– the black one that says CSI across the top in bold white letters. I gave my camera to the grandkids and said, “Go play!”. Okay – I will be honest here. I only began to wonder about this mystery after the camera sat on my desk a day or two. I did not purposefully create a kids’ photo shooting hypothetical testing environment. So – back to the story – I put on my investigator cap.

I downloaded the photos to my computer and studied them. First I deleted all the photos which were indistinguishable. There went 75% of them. BUT! They were shot with the same pure motive as the distinguishable ones. Let’s take a look at my laboratory results!

Miss me! Miss me! Now you gotta...eeewie gross!

I got you Andrew and you are in jail!

You're gonna be in trouble! I caught you with another cookie!

.......And these are my shoes....and these are...my...

Smile Momma!

Gramma! Be funny with your Dr. Pepper

So there you have it! Photography for the pure entertainment of point and click! If there is a flash – all the better. It has to be a real point and click though. A toy won’t do, unless life is still all about pretending which lasts until some magic moment between 3 and 4. There has to be the promise of reality – even if they never see the photos again. The promise is important.