The Bent Page

It was Mark Twain who said, “You die and go to heaven, I’ll stay here in Bermuda.” He might have been on to something. Of course I love the island of Aruba, which is a more raucous place than the more dignified Bermuda. Still, I appreciate the difference and have enjoyed several visits to Bermuda in my travels. So it was that I found this old photograph of Hamilton in the archives at the Library of Congress, where regular readers of this blog know I scour up some good finds now and then.

This photo was taken in 1911. My how things have changed! You don’t see any cruise ships in the harbor. Plenty of small buildings, the scale of which seems appropriate to a place like Bermuda. I can’t be certain, however, I think I was in that church on left side of the frame. Back in my days of photography that used film, I made some images of the stained glass windows there.

This photo is also a time capsule of sorts. It shows us what was, which can then be compared to what is today. It might also give us a glimpse of the future or at least a sense of the trend of things to come. I hope people take the time to print their digital photographs. If for no other reason, someday someone will find them and be able to do what I’ve been doing with these photos from the Library of Congress: Take a look at the past. One of my fears is that all the digital photos we take will be stored (invisibly) on a chip or CD or some other media that will become inaccessible. As the computer industry changes, compatibility is always a problem.

The best thing to do is print the good ones, and a few of the not so good ones as well. Hey, you never know. Some guy may be writing a blog or a novel and use your pictures as source material. If you’re really lucky, they’ll end up in the Library of Congress.