The Historical Capsule subreddit has been around for less than a year, but it has already amassed an impressive 316K members. According to the group’s “About” section, members are invited to “explore fascinating old photos and videos that tell stories from days gone by, share and discuss moments that shaped history, [and] join us in celebrating the beauty of the past, one snapshot at a time.”

This community is filled with photos from past generations that might teach you more about the world your grandparents grew up in or what it was like to go grocery shopping a century ago. Even if you’re not a history buff, I’m sure you can appreciate the beauty of these photos and the fact that they’ve been preserved for so many years!

We’re big fans of sharing historical photos here at Bored Panda, so it’s actually not the first time we’ve featured this subreddit. And when it comes to why it’s so important to take time to look back on the past, Linked Frame notes on their blog that photography has completely changed our perception of the past.

Before we had access to photos, everything we knew about history came from stories from family members and teachers, artwork and books. Being able to see what people, places and things actually looked like has given us a much deeper understanding of those times. And we shouldn’t take advantage of that; we should continue looking through the photo albums of the past!

Photography has also become an incredibly important tool for social change. Once images started appearing in the news, we weren’t able to turn away from atrocities. And people suddenly had a better understanding of important cultural moments. It’s one thing to know that people were starving during the Great Depression. It’s another, much more heartbreaking realization to see photos of emaciated children and struggling mothers. 

Of course, photography also helps us understand ourselves! Societies and cultures are constantly changing. But if you can look back on what your ancestors looked like and how they celebrated holidays, you might be able to put the puzzle pieces together and figure out where your own traditions came from. At the same time, these photos can be saved for future generations to see as well, so your great-great-great grandchildren will be able to understand where they came from too.  

Viewing a powerful photo can even be an emotional experience. Perhaps you see an image of an important historical moment that you vividly remember witnessing on the news or hearing about while sitting in the office on your lunch break. When we see photos of these moments, we can instantly be transported back to them and filled with the same emotions we felt back then, whether that was fear, elation, devastation, etc.

One important point that Linked Frame brings up on their blog is that, nowadays, we rarely see any photos that haven’t been manipulated, or at the very least, edited. And what’s worse is that we sometimes can’t tell the difference between a photoshopped image and something that was snapped right from a camera. 

Old photos are magical in the way that they just are. Sure, we can colorize them or attempt to make the images clearer. But we know that women weren’t edited to have smaller waists, and cities weren’t photoshopped to look more appealing. 

Living in this day and age, we are extremely privileged. We all have the opportunity to create our own, personal photo archives in our phones and on our social media accounts. But because of that, we have a responsibility to share what we want future generations to be able to see. Have you ever considered the fact that your grandchildren may be able to hop onto Facebook and see photos of you at your high school prom? It’s probably a good idea to look at your pages and make a decision about what you really feel comfortable with others seeing. 

We hope you’re enjoying this scroll through the past, pandas. Keep upvoting the pics that you find especially captivating, and let us know in the comments below what your favorite images from the past are. Then, you can find another Bored Panda list featuring this same subreddit right here!