Phone wont cut back on

So I was on the phone and tried to look at a text and the phone locked up. I told the called I was on the phone with I could call back. We hung up and I proceeded to reboot the phone, now, it wont cut back on. I get the white screen and the apple logo then nothing.. fades to black. The white screen and the logo is the only thing I can get. I don't know what to do!!! Someone told me to restore via iTunes, but I'm scared I will lose some very special/sentimental pictures.