Years ago, I always refused to take photos. What I could keep alive in my memory, so was my conviction, was just not important enough. Today, 35 years later, I think about this differently. And I repent. If I only had a few images from the old ski- and youth camps, and from our trip to the south of France. Some from my favorite uncle Edi and his Frieda. And of my first love of course.

Even the most wonderful memories fade with the years and all of a sudden I couldn't remember where I had lived, worked or spent my first vacation. It's not important, that's over, you could say. But even so - the older I get, the more important my own life history becomes, and the more I cherish it. I like to look at the photos I still have, on my timeline. It's all there at a glance. And going over them, I also enjoy sharing some of these memories.

I am above all very happy that I started taking snapshots right after our children were born, many photos. And I am thankful for every one of them.

What to do with the 200 photos from your last vacation?
While I had some trouble even finding images of earlier years, today I have a different challenge. I always carry my smartphone and during one week of vacation take 200 images. Because no one wants to see all of these, even if they're from Cyprus, I need to find a good selection. liniaa offers me this option to have all my most important images in one place and I focus on the most important imagery of my life history and place emphasis as I please. What do I find more and what less important?

At my whim I can turn the clock back, dive deep into single events, fondly look back on past times, the images building bridges with memories.

And every now and then an image appears in my mind that I had missed taking a photo of and make the perfect completion.

Günter Ackermann, June 14, 2015