A lot can happen in 25 years.
When you look back you can see how great things have changed.
But that change doesn’t seem so great while it’s happening.
That’s because it’s slow.
But it doesn’t mean that change isn’t happening.
This type of change is most evident when you’re flipping through the family photo album.
The photos don’t seem to change much from year to year.
But when you look at a photo from 25 years ago, you can see a huge difference.
But nowadays, so many of us don’t have those photo albums.
Lots of our photos are stuck on our phones or lost in cyberspace.
According to The Coffee Table Book, a study found that printed photos were found to “strengthen families.”
“Looking at and talking about printed photos is an activity that strengthens feelings of connection and closeness for families. A strong majority of respondents agree that family connection is initiated by printed photos better than by digital photos.“
The study surveyed 15,591 families and the results were very interesting.
About 79 percent felt that looking at printed photos was a fun shared family experience.
The study found that families felt that looking at printed photos was 2.5 times more of a shared experience than looking at digital photos.
“A majority of parents reported that looking at and talking about printed photos is an activity that their children enjoy, and which has immediate emotional impact and long-term psychological benefit.”
Looking at family photos also had an impact on how the kids feel about themselves.
“Parents reported their children experience increased self-esteem and stronger sense of identity from looking at printed photos.”
It also had a similar effect on parents.
“The parents surveyed reported that looking at printed photos of their family increases their belief in their capabilities as a parent. Leading to positive outcomes for families including reduced parental anxiety, higher quality parent-child interactions, and higher self-esteem for children.”
Printed photos and photo albums were just about the only way to look at family photos back when Tyrel Hatfield started his photo project “Tyrel & Lisa Hatfield – 25 Years.”
He took one photo of him and his wife starting in 1995.
While the photos from 1999 didn’t look that much different, change was creeping in.
They got a dog and by 2002, Lisa was pregnant.
That’s when the photos started looking noticeably different than the first ones.
The following photos showed the rapid growth of their little girl who was joined by a sibling in 2005. Their two little girls were joined by a little boy in 2007. By 2009, the entire family was looking drastically different, especially the parents.
The family had more additions to their family photo… a bunch of cats and dogs.
From there, the kids were growing and growing and growing. By the last photo in 2019, the entire family was completely transformed and fully grown. And watching the video of all 25 photos together is truly amazing and sentimental.
Check out the awesome changes they went through over the last 25 years in the video below!
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