Printed Photos – Organizing Your Memories
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If you are like me, you may have thousands of photos stored in various places and formats, so organizing them is a challenge. Digital photos on your phone, your cloud saver, your computer and your external hard drive or USB flash drives. Depending on your season in life, you may also have some on CDs, DVDs, or even VHS tapes. Have you inherited anyone else’s photos? My mother had a lot of pictures on slides and of course, dozens of photo albums with printed photos. I also have some in photo boxes and cases. Photos tell the story of our lives and help us and future generations to remember those important people and events.
Know Your Why...
Are you the family historian? Do you want to preserve old family photos safely? Are you downsizing or lacking in storage space? Do you want to easily access particular photos whenever you want without wasting time searching? Are you going to use them in craft or scrapbooking projects?(If so, you may want to keep some duplicates.) Maybe you just want to have them in an easy format to share them. You may want to scan and digitize all your old photos eventually and have them printed in photo books for family members.
Step One...Declutter Photos...
Find a comfortable spot to sort through your photos and have a trash can handy. Pick a spot that is out of the way that you can leave them if you won’t be able to get it done in one go. (A guest room, office or dining table that you rarely use.) Depending on the size of your collection and your available time, it could take a while.
Make it an enjoyable process. Possibly do it with another family member and have fun going down memory lane. Gather all the photos, put on some music and grab a cup of tea, or beverage of your choice.
In 2016 I used the Kon Mari method to declutter my photos that had been building up for ten years! Unfortunately, I don’t have any pictures of that process, but I can tell you they were spread out all over my dining room table. The main premise for the Kon Mari method was to only keep those pictures that sparked joy, and be grateful.
Questions to ask when Decluttering Photos...
In more pragmatic terms these are the questions to ask yourself:
- Is this a duplicate or are there several shots that are very similar? – Pick the best one and get rid of the rest.
- Is it blurry or the result of an accidental shot – like the inside of your purse? – Obviously trash.
- Do you even remember the names of the people in them? – Some people come into our lives for a moment and then they are gone. You don’t have to keep these photos either. Thank them for coming into your life and let them go.
- Are your memories of this person or event pleasurable or painful? It’s okay to let go of photos that cause you pain.
- Would you want anyone else to see these pictures? If you are Swedish Death Cleaning, there may be some photos you wouldn’t want anyone to see after you are gone.
- Finally – Is it of historical importance? Perhaps a museum would like them, and others would enjoy them.
Step Two...Sort into categories...
A simple way to sort photos is to organize by date – by year and then by month. You may want to organize by event, project or theme.
Step Three...Contain Printed Photos...
When containing your photos you have a few options – photo boxes, cases or albums. There are many different sizes available in these. Almost a century ago, some people repurposed a book to put their photos in. I personally, like using scrapbook albums. The important thing to remember is to use acid-free paper & adhesives that won’t damage the photos.
An old new idea for photos...
Step Four...Display Printed Photos...
You might want to make a collage wall to display your photos. Pick a theme first – old family, new family, grandchildren, vacations, etc. I mixed some of my ancestors pictures with a shadow box with my grandfather’s Christening gown and a decoupage plate my grandmother had.
Alternatively you could put smaller framed photos mixed with a shelf display.
You can watch the video on photo organizing below...
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