Are We The ‘Lost Memories’ Generation?
Do you have thousands of photos on your smartphone but none you can hold between your fingers? Have you ever accidentally deleted pictures from the most memorable or important of days? You’re not alone. We are the lost memories generation. But in an era of throw-away memories, one woman is unearthing the special photographs that stand the test of time, along with the stories behind them
The ‘lost memories’ generation – those of us who no longer make photo albums and are increasingly wary of storing our pictures online – are being asked to share their favourite pictures as part of a national initiative to remind people to keep photos forever.
Charlotte McMillan, founder of online memory storer Storychest, told Belle About Town: “We used to be able to find out about our past by looking at photo albums and letters. Now, we’re living in an age where photos and messages are stored on disposable devices, and many memories are therefore lost or forgotten.
“With our Treasured Photo competition, we’re looking for the photos which stand out for people as special and meaningful. We think this will help to show how important it is to keep hold of these treasured memories for generations to come. We will be contacting shortlisted entries to find out the story behind their photo so we can learn more about the kinds of memories people find most valuable.”
Enter photos your photos on the Storychest homepage or on Twitter, using the hashtag #TreasuredPhoto and the Twitter handle @storychest_.
Charlotte founded Storychest after losing some of her own precious memories, which had been kept on a computer that hadn’t been backed up.
“I’ve had one of those moments a parent dreads – while sorting photos on the home PC that weren’t backed up I managed to delete swathes of photos of my boys, including the baby photos of our third boy, Archie,” she said.
It was following this experience, and a lightbulb moment when sorting through her children’s memorabilia, that Charlotte decided to launch Storychest.
“I needed a way to digitally organise and keep the best of the endless stream of photos, videos, diaries, keepsakes, years of memorabilia produced and collected by the family, haphazardly stuffed in boxes, buried on computer drives, lost on devices, scattered in social media”, she said.
“But, on top of that, it needed to be a place to add a few thoughts, and leave a meaningful account of things as they happened and to capture memories from the past, before they got lost in the business of life. Thus Storychest allows users to keep and share precious memories and the stories behind them on a platform that’s more private than sites like Facebook, and won’t serve users ads.
“We’re hoping the competition will help people realise the value of those memories they have, and the importance of keeping them safe and secure. We’re in an age where so much of what is precious to us gets lost on electronic devices, and we want to highlight the importance of treasuring memories for generations to come.”
- To enter your treasured photo, visit https://storychest.com – prizes include a £100 Amazon voucher and six months’ subscription to Storychest. The competition closes on June 15th.
