How many times have you printed pictures in the last decade? Do you have to pull up Facebook to show images of those you care about? When was the last time you showed someone a printed album of images of you and your family?

Let’s face it, the printed image seems like a dying art. But, I’m here to tell you that it’s actually more important now than ever to print your memories. They are just as much for you as they are for the generations of family you can’t even imagine yet. We can’t trust leaving those introductions and memories to digital repositories.

After spending entire days documenting families celebrating weddings, birthdays, or days in their lives, only to have them never print them. Sure, having the images as wallpaper or the background on your smartphone is a form of seeing them daily. But, in the digital era, those images get swapped out very quickly. When you hang printed images, they usually stay for years, if not decades.

Printing images gives them a place in your legacy. Hanging them on the wall is a way of honouring the essence of those memories and the effort you took to have them made. It’s giving a tactical memory to those you love — in both the here and now and in the future. By printing those images you’re defining who you are to those future generations.

I’ve learned so much about my family and heritage by spending time going through old family photo albums. Sitting with my parents and family, listening to their stories of their lives, soaking it all up now. They may not be famous enough for history books, but to me they are more important than anything I’ll ever learn about life. Because those stories contain the mystery and amazement of how I am here, getting to live this glorious life.

If we don’t capture those stories, who will? They will be lost and forgotten, instead of treated as heirlooms of our own personal histories.

At the end of my life, I want to look back knowing I left a legacy. One that future generations can see as they gaze into my eyes, holding a printed photo of me in their hands. Seeing themselves in me. Being the next generation to pass along the story of me.

Every life and story is important. Especially to the ones who love us.