Creating photo collections takes time, so do it in stages. As
you go through the photos, ask yourself
these questions: Do I recognize the person? Do I find the photo of the
subject(s) flattering? Do I like the person? Do I have fond memories of the
event? Do I have more than one copy of this photo? Have a
family member or friend assist you. It can actually be fun as you reminisce
about old times, cry a little bit over lost friends or family members, and look back at the places
you lived and visited, etc. And cackle all you can when you deep-six some images
of yourself that you would rather not bestow on posterity.
As you create
your photographic album, try not to eliminate the accidental, the blurred the
botched, faded and crumpled photographs. These images document ordinary life and are windows to the past.
As we are now in
the age of the download and the hard drive, the photography book is currently
thriving as a medium, making the old-fashioned photo album a thing of the past.
Yet, many people still desire a physical object that can be held, paged through
again and again, and shown to others. Today, the photo album has given way to
the self-published photo book, an online publishing phenomenon that means you or
I can create our own album using preordained templates and printed from digital
files.
The thing about digital is it allows us to take many photos cheaply and then view them on a PC or TV, making it possible to have a whole family archive on a single flash drive. But what happens to stored images when computer systems change? A picture is always a picture, a digital image is
just so many 0's and 1's. So what happens in years to come if computers can't "read" today's
binary notation? You make digital back-ups of old photo albums to preserve them for future generations. Too often photo albums are lost, damaged, or dispersed. With digital media, a person's many descendants can all have a copy of old photographs.
Still, the photo
album survives. They have an integrity that digital storage cannot capture.
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| Goesel Family Albums |
The process of creating
an old-fashioned, hand-crafted albums is an abiding desire to tell a story with
photographs which will keep album-making alive. When
you hold a photo album, you sense that you are in possession of something
unique, intimate, and meant to be saved for a long time. As you turn the
pages and look at the images, you take in the maker's experience, invoking your
imagination and prompting personal memories.
So
as you find packets of photos in drawers and boxes throughout your home, spend
a few minutes recalling the moment. Then preserve them. And for those digital images, once they are
edited, don’t forget to look at them.
Here are a few pages of photographs from my family's albums.
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| Charlie at Walt Disney World, FL |
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| Tiffeni & friends by the pool |
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| Lizzie's long-ago pictures |
In a future post, I will offer
suggestions & products for
archival storage.
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| Keith's Navy Days |
Next Week’s Posts: Antiques
We are all so busy with the holidays and
keeping up with routines is difficult, but I could not let this time of year go
by without wishing all of you who take the time to read this blog and that the information
here gives you the encouragement to create your family museum. And there is no
better time than now to start. Take plenty of pictures capturing the moments of
surprise and delight. Save some of the gift tags and bits of wrapping paper to
make a collage or start a scrap book starting with this day and for all the
future Christmases. This is especially a good idea for the children. When the
inevitable boredom seeps into their day, help them to start a memory book, filled
with photos, bits & pieces of Christmas wrappings, a personal story about all
the people they shared this holiday with, the places they visited, and some of
the things they did. It is so easy to forget past events and by keeping a personal
journal in whatever form you wish, the words you write will keep those memories
alive forever.
Here are a few photos from my family Christmas
holiday. Living in a town with a colonial living history museum offers an array
of holiday magic, from brilliant fireworks to handmade decorations. My family
and I enjoy going to museums this time of year because they usually display
artifacts from Christmases past. 
In our home we have family members singing on the piano. Even the family pets.