As the performance of smartphones and compact cameras has improved, anyone can now easily take pictures. However, there are probably many people who have stored their photos on their devices without developing them. We asked Kimu, a poet and president of Iroha Publishing who runs “Album Kitchen,” a recipe site for handmade albums, about the significance of preserving photos in the form of albums.

Let’s “send” our “feelings” with photos and words.

　I started creating works of art with photographs and words when I was a college student because I wanted to bring some strength to the heart of someone close to me who was struggling or working hard toward a dream or goal.

　I showed my work to my friends and received comments such as “I was very moved.” I gained confidence by selling my work on the street, and decided to start my own company in order to spread my work to even more people. I have received letters and e-mails from people saying, “I was able to make an important decision in my life,” or “I feel more positive,” and these have been a source of encouragement for me.

　Nowadays, we have more and more opportunities to take many photos, but we place emphasis on “delivering” those photos to others along with words, and we feel that albums are valuable as a way to do this.

　I believe that photographs have two major values.
The first is a photo to share your experience. The second is a photo to preserve memories. The first is, for example, social networking sites, where the combination of photography and digital technology is powerful in terms of sharing. The second is to preserve memories. Memories are the past, but I believe that they have the power to create tomorrow, including both good and bitter memories. And memories that are analog and can be felt with the hands, such as an album, are more likely to convey the warmth of a person and remain in the heart. In particular, I recommend that parents and children preserve the time between them in analog photographs.
We want parents and children to enjoy communicating with each other by taking, keeping, and sharing photos!

　I also recommend that you make a maternity album to record the time until you meet your child, including a message to your child saying, “This is how you were born! I think it will be a wonderful time when your child grows up, so I also recommend this!

　We also recommend that you give your grandparents an album.
For example, grandparents will be even more pleased if you give them something with a sense of temperature that carries their feelings by juxtaposing a photo of their grandchild with a picture of themselves (mom or dad) in their childhood and adding words.
Now that it is so easy to share photos online and through apps, we encourage you to take the time to share your happiness by taking the time and effort to create the actual photo and attach words to it, and to “deliver the message”.

　Next, Koga-san and Morita-san, who work in public relations at Iroha Publishing, gave advice on how to produce the album.

Points to keep in mind when making an album

　Let’s think about the theme of dad and kids making an album together and giving it to mom. There will be expressions on the children’s faces that they only show when they are with their dad.

　Also, there are certain expressions of mom that the child likes, so let the child share in the selection of those pictures. Please choose the ones that your child feels are good, not the ones that are well taken. This will also create a dialogue, such as, “Why do you like this one?” and it will also create a dialogue.

　Also, although it is difficult to take pictures while thinking about creating an album, we recommend that you be aware of leaning in and pulling out to some extent when taking pictures. It is better to keep photos that have alternatives and movement in the album, rather than just the same kind of photos, so you will not get bored with the album.

Dad is the most skilled photographer.

　It is the moms and dads who can take the cutest and most attractive pictures of their own children. No matter how good a photographer you are, you can never beat your parents. So, instead of getting all worked up about taking cool, stylish pictures, try taking “good pictures” while playing together and pressing the shutter, even if the focus is off. When you look back at the pictures you have taken with your child, you will see the smiles on their faces. Cherish these precious moments.

　It may be difficult to create new memories with the Corona Disaster, but that is why you should make an album to look back on past memories and prepare to create new ones.