Too often, we believe we have time, only to be reminded how quickly it slips by—especially as the holiday season approaches and life gets busier. At Mootsh, we often reflect on the meaning of time, as our product is all about helping people capture it in special, lasting ways. We recently sat down with our co-founders, Noemie and Gratiane, to hear their perspective on time and its significance. We hope their reflections inspire you to pause and savor the moments that matter most.
Why are printed photos so good for capturing moments in time?
Noemie: There’s a couple of reasons for me that make prints a really good way to memorialize things and moments. A photo is more than a video, leaves me more space to imprint it in my brain. It’s just a snap of an instant and then the story around this instant becomes what you make out of it. It might change with time, but that makes it all the more powerful for me because it’s something you co-create with the print. Just like when you read a book, you co-create the story because you are the one visualizing the images in your mind around the words you read.
I love photo prints as an object. I love how a photo print is just a thing on its own. It can move from one place to another place. You can hold it, tuck it away, or stumble upon it years later, bringing the memories back to life.
You can put a print in a book, you can frame it. I think that’s more romantic than just images printed on the inside of the book that can’t move—they’re just trapped in there.
Gratiane: I realized that what makes life so intense is that you don’t realize how beautiful your life is because you don’t always have the time to stop and reflect. That, to me, is what photos are about. It’s suddenly looking at the tangible memories that you print. It’s an opportunity to go back in time at your pace to relive a situation, to be able to dive in into the moment again and realize how wonderful it was.
What does time well spent mean for you?
Noemie: Time well spent for me is time that feels right. And that can be many different things. It can be very different situations. It can be working on something meaningful and being satisfied with the work I’ve done. It can be time that I spend with family or friends that “fills my bucket” (an expression my kids use a lot).
Gratiane: Time well spent to me is time that makes you feel nourished. I really got to embrace what slow living is because there’s basically nothing to do on Maui in comparison to big cities. Being here has made us be super intentional about how we spend our time. And because of that I feel that everything we do is super fulfilling for our family.
For example, every Saturday we go to the chess club with my son, and that’s where we feel a huge sense of community because many families gather. It is amazing because we get to socialize in a very easy, low-key way.
We actively make the time because of the phone screen trap. We are so aware of it because if we are not intentional, that’s exactly what everybody will gravitate to. We literally make the time and create these moments in order not to be on our screens.
How do you deal with having less time?
Noemie: When I feel like there’s not enough time, I’ve found that the best way to reclaim it is to slow down or just pause altogether. I realized that having ‘enough time’ is really a state of mind—there will always be more to do than time allows. Slowing down helps me focus and do things better because it gives my nervous system a chance to reset.
I’ve had a dog for almost a year now and realize that when I feel overwhelmed with time, just taking the dog and petting it makes me feel so much better. That works with kids too :-). Just squeezing them and smelling their hair…That’s what matters.
How has your perception of time shifted being a parent?
Noemie: Being a mom has filled my life so much. I don’t even really remember what my life was like before. I think I had a lot of time but now I feel like my days are so full. But I love it. I love how my perspective on time has changed. I feel more alive even if I don’t have as much time to linger. I appreciate time even more when I have time on my own—maybe because it’s sparse.
Gratiane: Before you have kids, you take time for granted. You never realize what it means not to have time for yourself.
Having kids, it’s absolutely beautiful, and I love it, but you don’t really have time to spend a weekend with girlfriends or friends. You have moments instead—where everybody is sitting at sunset and you’re just like, wow, this is such a good moment.
What are your photo-taking techniques for capturing time?
Noemie: I don’t have a technical approach to photography because I haven’t really learned how to do it. But my dad, who is not a professional photographer, always took a lot of photos and he always looked like a monkey doing it. He was always in weird positions and it was definitely the epitome of the documentary photographer. He wanted to capture the moment just as it is. I’m just like my dad—I have no shame about what I’m going to look like so I can just lay down on the floor and capture special moments from the bottom up.
I’m drawn to capture moments that move me, even if the lighting isn’t great or the surroundings are messy—I take all my photos on my phone, so it’s really about the feeling behind the shot.
Gratiane: You need to find a balance between being in the moment, which means not always having your phone in your hands, but at the same time making a little space to realize, ooh, this is too good, or this is too cute, or the light is beautiful, I need to grab that.
I think that it’s okay to miss photos. I miss a ton of photos… I always prioritize the present, but having said that, I think it’s extraordinary to have these little moments captured in photos.
I think what matters is that we make a habit of taking photos regularly, so we build the story of our family’s lives.
I just looked at my Mootsh photo box and have the satisfaction of seeing the 12 month archive I’ve built. It takes five minutes every month to upload photos. When you look at the time that we spend scrolling on our phones, that’s nothing.
What times do you look forward to?
Noemie: I used to be extremely excited in the weeks leading up to Christmas as a kid. My birthday is two weeks before Christmas, so the end of year for me was just like, whoa—birthdays, holidays, time off from school. I was extremely excited. I always loved decorating the house and all the smells and the food and being together with the family.
The times I also look forward to now is any party where dancing is included. For me, dancing is really an occasion to just be myself in a way that I’m not on a regular day. I love it and it really brings me a lot of happiness.
Gratiane: I think it is interesting how we always craft the message of Mootsh around the daily little moments, but also for the big occasions. And I feel that the holiday is one of these big occasions that you absolutely don’t want to miss. There are little moments within the big occasions—like when we take photos of the kids opening the presents and you capture the expression in their eyes because it’s really magical. Also, every year I take photos of my Christmas tree in my living room because it makes me just so happy to keep a trace of it.