Digital time capsules

I've been reflecting, for a writing class, on the difference between a diary and an unpublished/unedited autobiography. Both are records of our lives and I suspect that if asked to answer without first reflecting, most people would say the first is a record of thoughts and the second a record of events. Each, when written well, contains elements of both. We might simply define them as written records of our lives.

Are blogs diaries, as they are so often labelled? Some are more like forums on particular topics but are the others used primarily to record our thoughts, our mental drift?

What about the role of photos then? Photos provide a good record of our lives and they can be used to richly illustrate our thoughts, as well as events.

I thinkwe've moved into the era of digital autobiographies, where image + text are now the components of diaries, and for the first time we can really interweave them. Some people prefer more text, others more photos. I like them best blended. As a writer, I tend to think of autobiography first in terms of words, with photos to back them up.

I've decided to start "writing" a digital images autobiography, as a means of seeing my life through another angle of the prism. On Flickr, I've just set up a set of photos called "Time capsules" where I've put five photos to start, and I will keep adding to them. The photos are objects from my life, all of which have some significance, and which trigger memories. Further down the line I will add text, I'm sure. For now, looking back comes first.

The first thing I've learned from doing this is how rarely I photograph durable rather than ephemeral objects - there are very few in my files, I'm surprised to discover.

I would love to see others starting digital time capsules, and sharing them.