One shot is forever

 We all have a collection of photos in our house.

With my family we filled a big box and every now and then, when we want to revive the old days, we take it out (being careful not to drop it on us) and begin a journey through time among the best memories of our life. Some make us laugh, others move us, still others tell stories of ordinary everyday life…. And there, in those squares of paper, everything seems to make us believe that we are living those moments again.
Today everyone can take a photo, whether with a classic camera or with a mobile phone; on the other hand, once the honor was left to a few professionals who had to carry around a heavy and bulky machinery.

Photography is an incredible invention.
Through this medium it was possible to capture the reality of the moment: a smile, an action, even a person who is no longer there remains there, imprinted on the film forever. There is no rule that tells you where and when to take the moment, you can do it anywhere; be it your living room or the top of a snowy mountain.
The first photographs appeared in 1839 and from then until today, which is 2021; they never went out of fashion.
How could they? It is an absolutely indispensable cultural heritage.
In addition to the function of "containers of memories" they can be used to show distant places in another hemisphere, tell news stories, show mundane events or immortalize historical events. Certainly for the latter reason his role was more than fundamental. Without the photos we would have no evidence of the incredible events that occurred such as the demonstrations for women's rights, the birth of the largest American cities or the atrocities of war conflicts ... shots that are now part of history books.
What else can you do with a photo?

A lot!
If you have the right foundation, you can do more than just shoot.
Sometimes the right shots can give life to images that become manifest of life, art and even deception. With the right means, and I'm referring to digital drawing programs; it is possible to modify or transform the subject with special effects no less incredible than those you might see in the cinema. For example, you could make the model dissolve in bundles of dust, or remove unwanted body curves from a woman, or even make a ghost face appear in a group photo.
Curiously, these changes were already in vogue when there was still black and white. In this case they were exploited in particular for political issues more than they are today.

Unfortunately, many idiots use photography to denigrate, cheat or invade the privacy of others.
As with any novelty designed for benevolent purposes, it too has been taken by the hands of corrupt and yokels to be exploited for anything but positive purposes. Just see the paparazzi who do not hesitate to steal shots of celebrities in their moments of peace and intimacy, the jealous men who spread the photos of their ex-girlfriends on the net for "revenge porn" and other sleazy motifs that also involve children.
It is unfair that such a wonderful technique is ruined in this way, and an insult to the service it has rendered for so many years.
Let's respect them, because otherwise we wouldn't have memories to hold onto.