The onset of the moment

From: The Accidental Masterpiece:

.....amateurs and professionals were

motivated to take pictures for pretty much the same two ba-

sic reasons: to save a part of the world for themselves, and

to save a part of themselves for the world. The inherent

poignancy in any photograph, whether a Stieglitz or a family

memento, entails both the private memory it tries to pre-

serve, by stopping time, and also the hope, however tiny or

even unconscious on an amateur’s part, that something in-

teresting might result in the expression on the face of a

beloved relative or in some other serendipitous gem captured

when the camera’s shutter is released. Memory and hope,

past and future: snapping a picture with a Kodak, like paint-

ing a picture with a brush and canvas, is a way to leave a mark

for posterity, a trace of oneself. It is a bottle tossed in the

ocean of time. Everything is constantly lapsing into obliv-

ion with every extinguished life,” wrote W. G. Sebald