Photographs to Take Before You Say Goodbye

The ordinary ones

Asleep in their usual place. Waiting at the door. Eating. The exact way they sit. These are the images people miss most, and precisely the ones nobody takes because they seem too everyday to be worth photographing. They will not seem everyday in a year.

The details

Paws, close up. The nose. The ears. That one patch of odd-coloured fur. Whiskers. The specific things you would struggle to describe later and will absolutely want to look at. Detail photographs also make the best basis for a memorial artwork if you ever want one.

With you in the frame

Almost everyone has hundreds of photographs of their pet and almost none of themselves with their pet. Hand the phone to someone else, or use a timer. The photograph of the two of you is the one that matters most afterwards and it is the one that consistently does not exist.

Video, with sound

The bark at the gate. The particular meow. The sound of their nails on the floor. Sound fades from memory faster than images do and it is the thing people say they would give anything to hear again. Thirty seconds of video is enough.