Bee Travel
Digital advances simplify photography
CHRISTINE HICKS- USTA Travel

A friend is coming to visit from France. She asked what she could bring. "Nothing," would normally be my hospitable answer, for truly I expect only the joy of friendship and the time passed in one another's company. Still, the white, ceramic olive oil container I purchased in Antibes six years ago- the one I truly treasure, for reasons I can't properly characterize - has developed an interior crack.

"That," I e-mailed to her, "is something I would cherish - a replacement before this one breaks." I'm willing to pay, though the cost is small enough not to impose. But how to better describe it ...

Do you remember Brownie cameras? We had one as children, but I think it was my grandmother who used it most. The next big innovative step was the Polaroid Land Camera. My dad was entranced with the technology. I think we bought one of the first ones made. Speedy photograph development was in its infancy. Of course, you had to purchase those bulky and expensive packs of film, not to mention a very specific camera, and then there was the protective case.

Remember Fotomats? These and their copycats were ubiquitous, found on any paved lot in the 1980s. Between 1968 and 1980, 4,000 of the yellow and blue mini-stores opened up. Through the convenience of our car windows, Fotomats breathed life into our long-languishing photos when we otherwise were too busy to walk them into wherever we had them developed before Fotomats. Now, of course, all this is antiquity.

We don't need Fotomats or film anymore. We have digital cameras and cell phones. Improvements? In the long run, I think so, though admittedly no member of my family works for or owns stock in Kodak. When you want to take a photo now, you don't have to dig out the camera, find or buy film, and scream, as you always did before your big trip when you realized the highly special

ized camera battery had died.

What's white, ceramic, and holds olive oil? A lot of things, so I needed to send images of my ceramic treasure. The beauty of today's technology is that at 10 p.m. on a school night, it's a simple matter of a few shutter clicks, a couple of clicks of the mouse, and - Voila! (as they really do say in France) - my aging souvenir had all the description necessary.

Admittedly, I am not an avid photographer. Some will disagree that the new way is better than the old. I respect the opinion. My personal criteria for "better" is that you carry less, and multifunction more, with as many options as possible. Actually, the best photos I take are those cataloged in my memory. Each is untarnished, and enhances with age. I think you can miss real life peering through a lens.

Photographic philosophy aside, however, now there's a woman in France carrying a digital illustration of a white ceramic olive oil jar.

(Christine Hicks-Usta has enjoyed more than 30 years of globe-trotting as a member of the travel industry. Direct questions to her at Bee Group Newspapers, P.O. Box 150, Buffalo, NY 14231-0150.)