Organizing Photos: Respect Age
January 24, 2010
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I realize that my advice about tossing photos (“lose the dreck!”) can make some folks nervous.
If you are one of those people, I want to reassure you that I do not suggest anyone toss out ancestor photos willy-nilly. No way.
Respect Age (when you toss photo clutter)
“Respect Age” – means just that. The older a photo is, the less likely that the person (or place, or time period) has been documented somewhere else. Photography was never a cheap hobby, and the earlier the date the more so that was true. In other words, it’s unlikely you have sooo many pre-1950s photos in your collection that you need to start tossing.
But then again, maybe you do.
In that case, I recommend that you find brothers or sisters or cousins to share them with. If you don’t have any of those, find a genealogy cousin. The older the photo, the more of those cousins are out there. (Am I right?)
The second half of “Lose the dreck” is
“Treat the keepers right”
“Treating the keepers right” means tucked away into archival photo boxes and envelopes
Treating them right also means stored away from:
- direct light
- fluctuating heat
- high heat
- high humidity
- fluctuating humidity
If you want to display these photographic treasures — and I strongly encourage you to do so — a simple digital scan will allow you to easily display a newly printed copy of the original.
Organizing Photos: Presentation is Only the Icing
January 20, 2010
Scrapbooking is a very popular hobby here in the United States. Surely you’ve seen stunning examples in your own family or group of friends. And who wouldn’t appreciate a personalized scrapbook made for them by someone they love? What a beautiful, thoughtful gift! Scrapbookers are creative artists who have collectively raised the bar on what we consider a quality photo album.
But there’s a dark side to this — and it doesn’t have anything to do with preservation…
I consulted with a client once who was sort of beating herself up about scrapbooking. She had made a vow to herself to deal with her photographs before the end of the year, and the kids were back in school already.
Here’s what she said to me:
“I feel like I’ll be judged a bad mom if I don’t transform all these photos into beautiful scrapbooks.”
How on earth did this happen?
Please understand: I’ve got nothing against scrapbooking. For many people, it’s a beloved hobby. For me, it’s a nightmare. If there’s such a thing as a”crafty gene” I can assure you that mine is damaged or missing entirely. And while I can recognize and appreciate good design, I can’t seem to create it, much to my dismay. Add to that the fact that I can’t seem to trim a photo correctly or set one down on a page without it coming out crooked, and you can see why I don’t go on weekend-long scrapbooking retreats.
We owe scrapbookers a huge dept of gratitude for making so many presentation options available. Especially photo-safe options. The scrapbooking industry has literally held manufacturer’s feet to the fire and demanded acid free materials. But no one should feel guilty if they prefer to use slip-in pages and plain 3-ring binders rather than a 12 color layout with embossed letters and a lovely translucent overlay. Presentation matters, yes. But don’t let other people’s elaborate designs prevent you from organizing, archiving and sharing your photos. At the end of the day it’s the photos and the stories behind them that matter.
Organizing Photos for NON-Scrapbookers:
- Remind yourself before you start that the presentation is the icing, not the cake itself.
- Choose the photos you love the most. The ones that stop you in your tracks. That make you grin, or cry. Whatever. The ones that really MEAN something to you.
- Write down the stories behind your photos – the stories that will disappear after you are no longer here to tell them. I use Denis LeDoux’s Photo Scribe method, which is designed specifically for people who are intimidated by writing. It’s one of the 5 books I recommend to every family historian, see Practical Archivist Recommends for more details.
- Regardless of your personal style, be sure to use only PAT-passed materials. See this article of mine to learn why so-called “archival photo boxes” might not be as safe as you imagine.
- Start with one album that chronicles you and your partner’s lives together. If you have kids, start with an album about your lives together before kids.
- Next, you can create one for each of your kids. Skip the baby pictures if you already have an elaborate baby book with pictures.
- After that’s done, make the “extra” scrapbooks for individual vacations, etc.
Two final thoughts:
PRESENTATION IS THE ICING, NOT THE CAKE.
Perfection Is the Enemy of the Good
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Organizing Photos: Can Photographs Be Clutter?
January 18, 2010
Our favorite photographs are valuable beyond measure. Many folks name a photo or album of photos as the possession they would grab first if they ever had to flee. Just last month, I heard a story about a woman who escaped her burning office tower on September 11th…only to rush back inside to retrieve the photograph of her daughter she had left behind in the panic. She never returned.
We place a high value on the photographs we treasure most, and that is perfectly reasonable. Just thinking about them disappearing is horrible to contemplate — so horrible that we might actually go back inside a burning building to rescue one.
So, how on earth can I talk about photographs as clutter?
It’s simple, actually. All photographs are not created equal. They do not have the same value.
What I think happens is that we generalize our intense love of specific photos to a love of all photographs. As if the value lies in the medium, rather than the content. This is misguided.
But before we can decide if photographs can be clutter, we should probably get a handle on what clutter is.
What is clutter?
I’ve been reading up on organizing and clutter busting lately, so I’ll let the experts tackle this question for us.
“Clutter is anything in your life that no longer serves you.”
Brooks Palmer, Clutter Busting: Letting Go of What’s Holding You Back
Brooks is my favorite of all the “get organized” authors. I just love his style. He is very calm and extremely supportive. He points out the outward signs that reveal whether a specific object is clutter or not: If thinking about it makes you tired, it’s clutter. If it brings you joy and energy, it’s not. Easy peasy.
If a photograph no longer serves you, get rid of it.
Blurry ones are obvious. As are the end of the roll shots we used to take so we could take the film in to be developed. (Something kids these days will never have to do!) Those snapshots of childhood acquaintances whose name you can no longer remember? Let them go. Photos of childhood friends you still love and adore? Keep. But remember you don’t have to keep every single snapshot.
“Clutter is postponed decisions.”
Barbara Hemphill, Love It or Lose It: Living Clutter-Free Forever
This one’s a kicker, let me tell ya. I would like to remind you that no one knows your story as well as you do. If you insist on keeping every single photo you are setting up a disaster down the road. Your kids will not be able to discern which images are significant, and which are meaningless. The inevitable result is that they will toss them.
Much better for you to invest some time now and purge the low value photos. Then you can focus on taking proper care of your high value photos. Write down the who, what, where, when and why. Share the stories behind the images. Make it as easy as possible for your kids to say “Yes, I’ll keep it!” by leaving them only the best photos.
Note: Book title links take you to Amazon.com. If you decide to purchase from that link, a small fraction of your purchase price will go to yours truly. Like a tip jar!