You press the button, we do the rest. Kodak used this iconic slogan to popularize photography in 1888. People could easily take a photograph without having to worry about anything complex, all they had to do was point and shoot.

 

Decades ago our grandparents posed, thinking they were leaving behind their imprints for later generations to look back upon. Despite the excitement and romanticism around these family albums, no one ever really took the time to preserve them. These aren't just photographs, but pieces of our history and visual artifacts that detail the customs and ways of our ancestors.

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To an observant eye, every picture has a tale to tell. Strings of pictures reveal recur- ring themes, bringing back memories of good and simpler times. Anecdotes from these become a part of family lore.

 

With the advent of the miniature film camera sometime in the early 20th century, photography moved out of the studios to the streets. At a time when only a handful owned cameras, it became the norm to have a family photograph taken by street photographers. As technology advanced, so did photography. Gradually more people began to own cameras as they grew simpler and cheaper and posed family portraits were soon replaced by candid shots.

 

As a part of our endeavour to record such family moments, we, at the India Photo Archive Foundation, intend to archive such family albums. We hope to inspire every family to dig up these albums from their mouldy dust covered graves and send them to us. Help us help you relive the past.