Flickr and YouTube are two electronic tools that help connect me to the larger world out there. Flickr is fun for sharing photos with our family members who live far away. After a trip abroad I love to post my pics for my parents to drool over and they do the same, recently posting exotically intoxicating images from their trip to Morocco.
Searching Flickr for photos from strangers is another matter altogether. Results vary enormously in quality. I am not very interested in this use. However, here is a little story about what happened to me when a stranger responded to a photo I posted after my trip to Italy:
My husband and I travelled to the tiny little village in Italy where my in-laws were born. The town is called Campolieto and is remote, ancient, quaint, untouched by tourism. I walked the narrow, stone streets capturing images of homes, masonry, views, the church, the cemetary, the main street, alleys, flowers, window sills. After posting these on Flickr someone living in Argentina wrote to me saying that his father was from Campolieto and with my photos he was able to remember his life. His exact words are here: "I am from Argentina and my fathers are from Campolieto, Via Roma, 16.I lived there in 1966 when i was six years old.I remembered with your photos my lifeThank you". This touched me very deeply, as I was instrumental in crystalizing someone's oldest memories.
Now, I must confess to a YouTube addiction. I am a keen folk dancer and teacher and I attend workshops and classes in International and Israeli folk dancing wherever I go. YouTube is filled with instructional videos of folk dances demonstrated by some of the leading teachers in the world. With just a small group of dancers in my two Calgary groups, YouTube helps me feel connected to the folk dance communities in other cities. The Israeli folk dance world is almost an industry, where new, hot dances are the rage. The best way for me to experience these gems is through YouTube. Now, when I travel to Montreal, Toronto, Scottsdale and New York and go to folk dance clubs, I know the same dances as everyone else!! For me, YouTube is the gateway to staying in touch with what's going on in the folk dance world. Saying it is useful is an understatement! It is essential to my happiness!
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So neat! I love that your pictures made a difference in someone else's life. And I love that you are a folk dancer. How unique! :)
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