In my family, most probably starting with my grandfather, a lot of them took pictures. Hundreds of them, each a tiny rectangular with time frozen in it. Settings are not so carefully chosen and other more elaborate constructed. Capturing the moment and winding on the film for the next snapshot. Then came the walk to the camera shop or some pharmacies to deposit the film and sometime later, mostly a week, get the developed negatives and the images printed. Some landed in a big shoebox, some made it into an album. There came some writing beneath about place, occasion, and date.

Part of my family is gone now, but these images remain. I found, even more, when I had to clear the place of my parents – an entire treasure trove of memories. Pictures of relatives smiling at familiar places in south Germany or tourist places in Switzerland or Austria.

My father in Vietnam and North Africa as he was part of the French Legion. Me and my siblings at birthday parties, carnival, school trips, and much more. An archive of its own.

Nowadays, its different – pictures aren't printed so often. There is no need to write a date, with some equipment, even no need to remark on the location. A lot is memorized when taking a photograph. Nevertheless, these archives are being built each day by us. Mostly with the camera, nearly everybody is carrying around in his/her pocket.

Smartphone technology and digital photography have democratized photography. Expense and accessibility seen from the viewpoint of our grandparents have made it easier but have taken away some of the intentionality as well.

When every shot costs you some money, not to mention the time to develop, you give the making of a photograph more thought. On the other hand, it is much easier to experiment, play, and to go wild. There are fewer boundaries, take fifty shots, and keep only one, beautiful and liberating. The downside is that the thought process behind the photograph is less as well.

But what does it matter anyhow for most of us? We post them on Facebook for a time, mostly a day, then forget its existence. The place for our photographs in the digital age has changed, but what didn't change is their significance. In making artful, creative, and mindful photographs can give them a more profound meaning with family, community, and oneself.

The time we are living in is an ever-evolving age in the roams of photography seen from the technology point of view. Cameras can be owned by nearly everyone. Not only the ones with a decent disposable income can own them. Looking around, they are now almost ubiquitous in the western world. More and more have one in our pocket or handbag in the form of a smartphone or a tablet. The barriers to photography have come crashing down, and now anyone can get involved. An exciting time with an increasing flood of visual stories and creations on different platforms. It has never been easier to share one's work for the masses.

It seems that everyone has a story to tell. In our history, there have never been these many voices with such a vast diversity. A lot of small groups can now find ways to represent their causes and their art and have a chance to get noticed without the help of the mainstream media. There is no playing by the rule book, stories can be told in unique ways.

Still, there is often the judgment by these old standards. Are cat images or the many coffee pots do anything to change the world? Maybe they won't, but it doesn't mean they are not of value. Perhaps your cat photo gives a burn-out person the needed good mood they are searching for. Maybe the coffee pot you tagged just now, prompts some others to do the same and go for the organic coffee shops and some new local enterprises become a little more profitable. Or it is about how we connect.

Connection, communication, and community are the secret weapons of social media. Slowly, so ever slowly, they have the power to change the overall attitude and thinking. Think of your favorite musician, author, or politician when you read or heard something you felt was necessary. Didn't you feel vindicated or enlighten? All the different new digital venues are very saturated – it is a cacophony of voices – but still, there is room for more. And there might be a different story for each individual image in all this frenzy.