Hey all, it's wonderful to be here. My name is Alexandra Paige Moreo Gutierrez or just Ally. I'm a visual storyteller based in New York City (well, sort of), and I'm writing you from Hanoi. I'm so glad you're here.
Part of me knows exactly why I'm starting a newsletter; another part has no idea. I'm interested in diving deeper into photography and our interest in why we take pictures, what draws us into even making photos, and why it matters.
But first, I have a brief story to share with you all. In my opinion, it sums up the importance of a photograph.
My grandmother's closets inside her Queens home are like a museum of memories. Shoeboxes are stacked high and filled with photographs. On some visits, I dig through them, holding physical photographs, something I hope the following generations will still have.
Two years ago, one of those shoeboxes was on the dining room table at Christmas. God knows why, but as all good Italian families do, we were cleaning up on Christmas. Inside the shoeboxes were pictures made by my late grandfather— wallet-sized images of family members. Except they were family members I didn't know existed, living in Italy. I inquired a little, to which Nonna responded that she was connected to them. (The narrator should chime in here and say that wasn't entirely true).
My grandmother, aka "Nonna," rummaged in some closet to find a folder of letters from 40-plus years ago. Soon, we were piecing together the story of a forgotten branch of our family with whom we hadn't had contact in several decades. From those letters, we had a singular return address.
The search took my husband, Matthew, and me across the ocean to southern Italy, specifically Bari, on the country's east coast. Those photographs pulled us forward. We arrived in a small town outside of the city. With the photocopies of the photographs in hand, we knocked on doors, proof of a connection that words entirely encompass.
Within half an hour, we found my extended family that we'd lost touch with. The first cousin I met during that trip didn't speak English but smiled when he saw the photograph. He recognized the people in the pictures and realized we were family. It didn't matter that I couldn't understand his dialect.
Had my Nonno not taken and printed those images — and had my Nonna not kept them — that family connection never would have happened.
There's a collective memory of people who have gone through family photographs. Almost everyone has shared that experience. Going through old photos can conjure all kinds of emotions. Photographs also evoke questions and deeper conversations. They preserve what life used to be. What did people value? Who did they love, and what did they care about?
And so, with this Substack, my hope is that this isn't merely a newsletter. I hope we dive deeper into the importance of photographs. We can share stories, but we will discuss why sharing stories matters.
This will become an inquisitive space where we think about how visual communications evoke a level of emotion that words or other mediums don't always do justice to. As a creator of this newsletter, I presume these stories in my life will inspire the larger dialogue, and I hope your stories inspire the conversation as well. I'd love for this to be a two-way street.
We're documenting the world now more than ever. We're living amid saturated content and images. But how frequently do we pause to think deeply about our photographs and why we make them?
I invite you to share your own photographs anytime. Maybe a photograph that captures a memory you'd otherwise forgotten about. Or a photograph you're glad you made. Or one that evokes a certain feeling.
I'll send this newsletter monthly, maybe more frequently, so stay tuned.
Let me know if there's a topic you're curious about, a photo you'd like feedback on or a story you want to share with me (or the world). You can reply directly to this email or drop a note in the comments section below. What do you hope to see here? What do you love about photographs and visual storytelling? Your feedback will help shape the direction of this project.
Thank you for joining me on this ride.
Best,
Ally
Wonderfully written and thought provoking.
These pictures are beautiful <3.