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#144 Take a Picture, It'll Last Longer

Whether you pose happily or are a serial camera dodger, there are probably some photographs you treasure. Photos are a way of connecting us with our past, capturing a special memory, or even giving us a peek into each other’s lives — albeit through a filter.


This week’s stories explore the unique art of photography, and how it impacts our lives in big ways, and tiny ones.

This week's prompts

Start your story with somebody taking a photo.

– 73 stories

Write a story about a wedding photographer.

– 30 stories

A character finds an old roll of film, and takes it to be developed. What do they find?

– 45 stories

Write about a character who’s pathologically camera shy.

– 21 stories

Write a story that centres around an Instagram post.

– 20 stories

Stories

Break Point

Weekly Contest #144

The city below Lukas’ apartment balcony bustled with the sounds of the Consumers - hundreds of people bustling to complete one tedious task after another. Like any city, Omni was a giant machine - fed by those willing to do the undesirable work. Today, a Consumer might be tasked to monitor a waste disposal drone, and tomorrow replace old sewer grates with new ones. Whatever unsavory task needed to be done to earn the credits needed to consume, the Consumers would do.Lukas sipped his latte.And, like the city, the Consumers also...

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Just a Picture

Weekly Contest #144

„It’s just a picture.“ Still, all I manage to take is yet another photograph of a hand. Blurry. The hurried movement created strange patterns, a swirl of light that was reflected off a ring on a finger. It’s nice, has a bit of an artsy feeling to it. Maybe I could do an art show one day? Hundreds of photographs of hands in various states of blurriness. It’d probably be a huge hit. A small chuckle escapes my lips as I think about it. Fancy art gallery, posh outfits, expensive champagne, people philosophizing about the deeper meaning behind...

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Fine Fruit, One Blemish

Weekly Contest #144

Cameron lifted the plastic menu to his face; I couldn’t see his eyes, but I knew he was smiling big enough to make them shine. His bald head bobbed a little as he looked over the menu at his favorite breakfast spot. Most anyone else would just know what the menu said by now. We’d been coming here for three years. Every, single, day for those three years and eleven weeks. I snapped the Polaroid and pulled the picture of the back of the menu, his bald head and his fingers clutching the menu out and fanned it make it develop faster. I thought i...

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Smile for the Picture

Weekly Contest #144

“Smile!” That was the only warning Kaoru got before a camera-flash temporarily blinded him. “What the hell are you doing?” He snapped as soon as he overcame his surprise, glaring at the culprit. Standing in front of him was a blonde boy, with a lopsided smile on his face. Upon noticing Kaoru’s anger he only laughed, rubbing the back of his neck. “Sorry, sorry! You had such a nice expression, I just had to take a picture.” “Has nobody told you it’s rude to do that?” Kaoru asked, through grit teeth. “Don’t just take pictures of strangers witho...

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Take a Photo

Weekly Contest #144

Take a Photo Alan finds a glade with no overhead branches, stops and takes a photograph. If Winds continue to blow branches might come crashing down if winds blow up. Legs burning from walking in, focused on his mother’s presence. He finds it impossible to stop remembering her words. ‘Won’t be easy, but after you’ve spread my ashes, you will be caretaker for this place. Visit me, occasionally.’ Underfoot only hard ground, rough with exposed pebbles. Surface sand aright, but a clay base baked so hard he can’t drive in tent pegs. After fus...

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What the Lens Sees

Weekly Contest #144

                                     What the Lens Sees       As the sun begins its descent by just kissing the horizon the atmosphere explodes in a palette of brilliant colors of every hue and shade.  Jonesford quickly focuses his lens so that he won’t miss a second of Nature putting on her most stylish ball gown to welcom...

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You May

Weekly Contest #144

Cornwall, 1901 Ross squinted into the sun as he slowed his horse to a trot. After four gloomy days of rain, he was glad to trade the dark walls of his family’s home for the warm salt air of the cliffs. This pathway left the newly returned and generous sun at his back and though it’s rays stung his eyes as it sparkled on the calm waves down below, it felt pleasant along his sleeves and shoulders. He closed his eyes for a moment and relished the warmth. It was then his horse moved under him with a thunderous jolt. Hooves rattled against the ...

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It All Clicked Together

Weekly Contest #144

Note: story contains brief use of coarse language Erica jolted at the bright flash in the cabin’s bedroom – was it lightning? She blinked around the dim, moonlit space, expecting a crash of thunder. Nothing; only the twittering of mountain bluebirds greeted her. She stole a quick glance at Barry, still slumbering beside her. Another quick glance went to her phone’s weather app: the skies over Three Bear Holler were utterly clear, no ominous red-and-yellow patches in sight. Erica sighed to herself, and shook her frowsy chestnut hair out o...

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Welcome To The Neighborhood

Weekly Contest #144

WELCOME TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD            Molly Drake stepped out in the middle of the street to take a picture of her new house to email her family and friends back home. She doesn’t live far, but she is so excited to have a house of her own, she couldn’t wait to send them pictures.  Molly moved into her new house yesterday and is excited to get things unpacked and in place so she can venture out and meet her new neighbors. This is the first time Molly is out on her own and feels b...

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Picture This

Weekly Contest #144

“Everyone in!” Darcy yelled to her family. They all lined up like little soldiers, with smiles on their faces. They knew the routine. It was Christmas and their ten-foot Christmas tree was proudly standing on a square table covered in a plaid holiday tree skirt. Darcy had set up her tripod and the countdown had already begun. Success! This was a well-rehearsed action the kids could perform without much thought.  Darcy was a fan of capturing the family moments on film, along with the staged group pictur...

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Picture of Love

Weekly Contest #144

           Cheryl Swanson is a photographer for all special occasions, but weddings are her favorite of all events to capture.            It was mid-July, and the sun was beating down upon the bridal party as they crossed Floral Gardens, a popular location for wedding photographs. Iris flowers bloomed in brilliant purple, blue, and yellow around a small waterfall that was situated in the background between two weeping willow trees. T...

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The Nature of the Job

Weekly Contest #144

The Nature of the Job Jack’s Thoughts Jack was in his car, almost at his destination, and he was muttering to himself: ‘So I wanted to become this great nature photographer, but I end up, weekend after weekend, if I’m lucky, being a wedding photographer. At least the site of this wedding could be a beautiful one, a park between a forest and a lake. If I’m lucky, I might be able to see and photograph a deer or some other animal that has natural beauty, not the manufactured looks of the members of your typical wedding party.’ &nbs...

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The Wedding Photographer

Weekly Contest #144

There were days I would return from my long photographic expeditions during monsoon times soaked in heaven sent rain. I would wear the most fabulous smile a person ever wore, radiating with that joy inner passions bring. Photography was my passion. Soon after coming home, I would carefully select the best ones and convert them into videos. I would plug-in lilting instrumental music and post them on Youtube. I had a considerable following. I felt triumphant, the man and the camera: Mother Nature and her humble servant. I became a much so...

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Amanda

Weekly Contest #144

There’s nothing like taking a picture. It’s like capturing a moment in time to hold onto forever. A smile, a twinkle in the eye, a heartfelt conversation, a long coming embrace. Weddings have always been my favorite. Emotions always run high. To immortalize the look on the groom’s face when his bride walks down the aisle, the tears of a father never really ready to let go of his daughter, the envious look of a childhood rival. To have that kind of power, to see things that no one else sees, to know things no one else knows. That’s what I lov...

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Broken Heart

Weekly Contest #144

“No,” a woman cried as she woke up. She looked around and saw that she was safe in her room. She stood up and saw that everything was in its place. The bed was in the middle of the room, and the tv was and the foot of the bed next to the wall. The woman's name was Autumn, and she had two children, a boy named Asher and a girl named Grace. The kids were staying with her mother, Ethel. Autumn could not sleep, so she drove out of town to an old house in the middle of the night. The house had been untouched for about a year. The sky was dark, an...

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