You’re probably well-familiar with the scenario that happens nearly every single time someone opens a photo album: they show you a picture, you see another one, then another one that reminds you of something, and before you know it, you’ve spent two hours flipping through the photo album.
If you just said “Aah, yes, I know how that goes,” or at least thought that to yourself, you’re probably a rather sentimental person or someone who enjoys walking down memory lane looking at pictures, at least. But you are also likely to be a person who would enjoy today’s list, as it is focused on some of the most wholesome family pic recreations you could find on the internet. If you’re ready for a month’s worth of wholesome, scroll down to find the pictures on the list below, but beware, they might make you want to take out that family photo album of yours, and we all know how that’s going to go.
On the list below you will also find Bored Panda’s interview with an expert in all things nostalgia, professor of literature and linguistics at Mars Hill University, Hal McDonald, Ph.D., who was kind enough to share his thoughts on the importance of (old) pictures.
#1 A Kid Posed With His Pilot Dad In An Airplane. Almost 30 Years Later They Recreated The Photo
“A photograph is like a wormhole, providing a direct link between two distantly separated locations in space and time – the present in which we view the photograph and the epoch in our lives when the photo was taken,” professor of literature and linguistics at Mars Hill University, Dr. Hal McDonald, told Bored Panda, discussing the significance of pictures and the role they play in regards to people’s sense of nostalgia.
“It’s like a time capsule—a fleeting moment from our past captured on film (or pixels) and buried in some box in our closet or album on our phone to await rediscovery months, years, or even decades later, bringing that long-forgotten instant to life once again,” Prof. McDonald added.
“And with the memory of that moment come whatever emotions we may have been feeling when the shutter clicked. That image of our family gathered around the table for Christmas dinner, or college friends making stupid faces on graduation day, or that puppy poking its head out of a gift box on our tenth birthday, can instantaneously fill us with the feeling of contentment, anticipation, or joy that those happy moments gave us when we lived them.”
#2 Four Girlfriends Recreate Photo From Their First Fun-Loving Vacation 50 Years Ago
#3 Sweet Old Couple Recreates Their Wedding Photos From 1952
“But it is not just the isolated moment captured on a 4×6 scrap of paper to which a photograph transports us, for that moment, when we actually lived it, was not isolated at all. It was but a small strand of an intricate web of all the lived moments that surrounded it in both space and time—the area that lay outside the visual field of the photograph, and all the things we experienced in the moments before and after the moment portrayed in it,” Dr. McDonald continued.
“Gazing at a photograph not only allows us to relive a special moment. It temporarily immerses us in the entire world in which that moment occurred—the sight of your mother, who never liked being in pictures, holding the camera and telling you to say ‘cheese,’ the smell of sausage b***s and cheese straws wafting in from the kitchen, and the sound of your grandfather laughing himself hoarse over the antics of your little brother, none of which are portrayed in the picture, but all of which spring to life in your memory as you recall the moment.”
#4 My Sister And I Recreated Our First Picture Together
#5 Here’s A Photo Recreation Of Me With My 17 Year Old Cat [1997 And 2011]
According to Prof. McDonald, once we connect with our past through the wormhole of a photograph, we might want to stay in that state for a while, which is likely why we tend to spend quite some time flipping through the pages, when we actually take time to open a photo album.
“We want to stay there as long as we can, savoring the pleasure of recapturing some part of our past—and perhaps even of ourselves—that we had long ago forgotten,” he noted. “A single photo can carry us to that distant place. Flipping through the pages of a photo album can allow us to stay there and visit for a while.”
#6 Made My Mom Laugh More Than I’ve Ever Seen (18 Years Later Re-Creation)
#7 Father Washing His Baby Boy In The Sink
#8 30 Years Apart. My Dad, Age 21. Me, Age 22. Same Shirt. Same Guitar
Some people might think that the days of photo albums are long gone. And well, they’re not entirely wrong. As much as I—a fan of photo albums, scrap books, and similar forms of nostalgia—would hate to admit it, it looks like increasingly fewer people put all of their pictures neatly in actual albums and rely more on the digital ones on their phones or computers instead.
That’s not surprising. Bearing in mind the hassle of having to print them out—not to mention sort through them—it makes sense to have them always on hand on your devices. This way, it’s easier to share them, too, as it doesn’t require flipping through what feels like hundreds of albums to find that one picture you were looking for (and, perish the thought, have to use a photocopier so you can send it to someone).
#9 Snorri, 1991-2012, Reykjavik
#10 Edwin, 1990-2012, Accra
#11 Then And Now
A report on people’s changing printing habits, carried out by Epson Europe, seconded the idea that photo albums are becoming a thing of the past. According to it, the vast majority—as much as 86%—of people have gotten out of the habit of building family albums. It also found that the average person hasn’t looked at their family album for more than 1.5 years (19 months, to be exact).
#12 Baby Boy Helping Mom In The Kitchen 1995 & 2012
#13 Mechi, 1990-2012, Buenos Aires
#14 My Mom And I In 1994, My Daughter And I In 2024
While most people no longer collect pictures in family albums, they agree that browsing physical pictures tends to have a positive effect on them. According to the aforementioned report, roughly 80% of people say that looking at pictures of loved ones make them happy and more than 50% say they experience feelings of pride and nostalgia.
Another way that physical pictures reportedly add to people’s well-being is bringing the young generation closer to their relatives, even if via an image, and giving them a stronger sense of identity.
#15 Me And Mom On The Front Porch: 1971 And 2019
#16 Bindi Irwin Recreating This Wholesome Moment
#17 Amazing Remake Of Siblings Together In A Park For Lovely Remake After 28 Years
“Looking through an old photo album together is a good way of strengthening, and in some cases repairing, the ties that make a family a ‘family’,” Dr. McDonald told Bored Panda, talking about the role family pictures play in people’s relationships with those of their kin.
“Our memories, particularly nostalgic ones, remind us of who we are and what is really important to us, and photographs put us in touch with our nostalgic memories. Looking at photos together with family members stirs our collective sense of nostalgia, reminding us of the experiences we shared, and the common identity we share, as a result of sharing those experiences.”
#18 That’s Me For No Reason, Recreation Gap 1988-2012, Berlin
#19 My Brother And Me Remaking Our Memory After 59 Years
#20 Me And Pop In The Backyard: 1971 And 2019
