When Photos Find You

One thing that I love in a weird way is when photos find you. A photo that finds you is a picture of a person or persons that was clearly meant to be kept yet somehow manages to find its way into your possession. For example, I recently checked out a book from the library, and I was about halfway through, reading at my desk during my lunch break when a photo strip fell out. “How unusual,” I thought. But as I leaned over to pick up the strip where it had fallen, six more fell out.

First of all, don’t those things cost like $5 per strip now? Who was making so many of these? And why? It’s not like they were all of the same person, either. Ultimately, there ended up being something like five different faces in a variety of pairings and poses.

Above: Actual photos from library book.

I think I like finding these things because it sparks my imagination when I least expect it. It makes me think: “Who is that girl? Who are those ladies? How are they related? What else did they do that day? How did all these photos end up in this library book? Questions need to be destroyed by answers!”

It also reminds me of the movie Amelie (which, if you haven’t seen it, add it to your queue INSTANTLY) when the protagonist, Amelie, finds a scrapbook filled with photo strips—all of different people—which for her presents a fascinating mystery. I don’t find myself as caught up, but it’s still interesting to think about…

A photo may have found its way to you before that made you think, “Oh, that’s weird/interesting/random” like it did me. Or photos may forever be finding ways into your life, but you don’t give a crap, so you don’t even remember, and even now as you’re reading this, you’re thinking: “I have no idea what this wacky girl is even talking about. AS USUAL.”

So what say you, interesting or no? A source of questions or random trash?