Print photos for kid's sake

The Last Three Feet

Printing photos for children to view as they grow up is critical to keeping mental memories intact, strengthening family ties and fostering emotional well-being, according to a leading psychologist.

Dr. Kenneth Condrell, a New York-based PhD and clinical psychologist who specialises in counseling families, children and teens, said that while the advent of digital cameras has resulted in people taking more

"By exchanging photos via email and storing them on disks or computers, parents are actually jeopardizing the emotional well-being of children who need to see pictures of themselves as they grow to promote self-esteem and security," Dr Condrell said.

"In addition, the candid images that truly capture personalities, family members and moments in time are becoming casualties of the digital camera's 'delete' button, so entire portions of a person's history are being erased," he added.

It’s estimated that only 13% of digital pictures taken ever end up being archived on paper.

Pictures still matter

In 2004 PMA, IPI, PRO, Kodak, Fuji, Agfa and Konica launched an ambitious online project to foster more printing, with Dr Condrell as the 'expert' spokesperson who was adept at ?guilting? people into making prints.

However, in an ultra-competitive market, lower paper prices to labs seemed more important than continued funding of

Rather than let all the content disappear and let the URL lapse, Bill McCurry took over the domain name and Chris Lydle developed a small web site. And it?s still posted at http://www.picturesmatter.com