A father-daughter bond, one photo at a time
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0:01 - 0:02Photography has been my passion
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0:02 - 0:05ever since I was old enough to pick up a camera,
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0:05 - 0:07but today I want to share with you
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0:07 - 0:10the 15 most treasured photos of mine,
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0:10 - 0:12and I didn't take any of them.
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0:12 - 0:15There were no art directors, no stylists,
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0:15 - 0:19no chance for reshoots, not even any regard for lighting.
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0:19 - 0:24In fact, most of them were taken by random tourists.
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0:24 - 0:25My story begins
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0:25 - 0:28when I was in New York City for a speaking engagement,
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0:28 - 0:30and my wife took this picture of me holding my daughter
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0:30 - 0:35on her first birthday. We're on the corner of 57th and 5th.
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0:35 - 0:38We happened to be back in New York exactly a year later,
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0:38 - 0:42so we decided to take the same picture.
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0:42 - 0:44Well you can see where this is going.
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0:44 - 0:46Approaching my daughter's third birthday,
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0:46 - 0:48my wife said, "Hey, why don't you take Sabina back to New York
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0:48 - 0:52and make it a father-daughter trip, and continue the ritual?"
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0:52 - 0:55This is when we started asking passing tourists to take the picture.
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0:55 - 0:59You know, it's remarkable how universal
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0:59 - 1:02the gesture is of handing your camera to a total stranger.
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1:02 - 1:07No one's ever refused, and luckily no one's ever run off with our camera.
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1:07 - 1:10Back then, we had no idea how much this trip would change our lives.
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1:10 - 1:12It's really become sacred to us.
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1:12 - 1:15This one was taken just weeks after 9/11,
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1:15 - 1:19and I found myself trying to explain what had happened that day
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1:19 - 1:22in ways a five-year-old could understand.
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1:22 - 1:25So these photos are far more than proxies
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1:25 - 1:28for a single moment, or even a specific trip.
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1:28 - 1:31They're also ways for us to freeze time
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1:31 - 1:35for one week in October
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1:35 - 1:37and reflect on our times
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1:37 - 1:39and how we change from year to year,
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1:39 - 1:42and not just physically, but in every way.
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1:42 - 1:45Because while we take the same photo,
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1:45 - 1:47our perspectives change,
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1:47 - 1:50and she reaches new milestones,
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1:50 - 1:53and I get to see life through her eyes,
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1:53 - 1:58and how she interacts with and sees everything.
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1:58 - 2:00This very focused time we get to spend together
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2:00 - 2:06is something we cherish and anticipate the entire year.
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2:06 - 2:09Recently, on one trip, we were walking,
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2:09 - 2:11and she stops dead in her tracks,
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2:11 - 2:15and she points to a red awning of the doll store
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2:15 - 2:17that she loved when she was little
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2:17 - 2:19on our earlier trips.
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2:19 - 2:22And she describes to me the feeling she felt
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2:22 - 2:25as a five-year-old standing in that exact spot.
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2:25 - 2:28She said she remembers her heart bursting out of her chest
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2:28 - 2:31when she saw that place for the very first time
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2:31 - 2:34nine years earlier.
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2:34 - 2:36And now what she's looking at in New York
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2:36 - 2:38are colleges,
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2:38 - 2:41because she's determined to go to school in New York.
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2:41 - 2:44And it hit me: One of the most important things
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2:44 - 2:48we all make are memories.
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2:48 - 2:51So I want to share the idea of taking an active role
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2:51 - 2:55in consciously creating memories.
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2:55 - 2:58I don't know about you, but aside from these 15 shots,
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2:58 - 2:59I'm not in many of the family photos.
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2:59 - 3:02I'm always the one taking the picture.
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3:02 - 3:04So I want to encourage everyone today
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3:04 - 3:07to get in the shot,
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3:07 - 3:09and don't hesitate to go up to someone and ask,
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3:09 - 3:11"Will you take our picture?"
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3:11 - 3:17Thank you. (Applause)
- Title:
- A father-daughter bond, one photo at a time
- Speaker:
- Steven Addis
- Description:
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A long time ago in New York City, Steve Addis stood on a corner holding his 1-year-old daughter in his arms; his wife snapped a photo. The image has inspired an annual father-daughter ritual, where Addis and his daughter pose for the same picture, on the same corner, each year. Addis shares 15 treasured photographs from the series, and explores why this small, repeated ritual means so much.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 03:38
Thu-Huong Ha edited English subtitles for A father-daughter bond, one photo at a time | ||
Thu-Huong Ha approved English subtitles for A father-daughter bond, one photo at a time | ||
Thu-Huong Ha edited English subtitles for A father-daughter bond, one photo at a time | ||
Morton Bast accepted English subtitles for A father-daughter bond, one photo at a time | ||
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for A father-daughter bond, one photo at a time | ||
Joseph Geni added a translation |