The purpose of a picture is to capture a moment in time.

However, a picture is never really just one moment. When you look at one, or show one to someone, there is always a story that goes along with it. Even if you’re posting on social media, it’s accompanied by a few (or many) details about what is happening.

From those details, we build a narrative about a person’s life.

Whether that narrative is accurate is a whole other story, but it’s done in a way that can connect us.

A photo of a child washing up on the beach of Turkey instigated a worldwide firestorm of outrage for the plight of Syrian refugees.

A photo of the Earth as seen from the outer edges of our solar system (“The Pale Blue Dot”) gave us a completely new perspective on humanity and our role in the universe.

A photo of my son from when he was an infant reminds me of how fast time moves.

A picture is really a narrative about our lives, attempting to capture moments that may or may not be representative of it. While helpful, they don’t offer a lived experience.

That’s for us to capture in our hearts.