Organizing Pictures- The experience that’s “Worth a thousand words”

Remember the era, where you actually had to go to the store to have your film canister developed. We thought we were in heaven, when one hour development developed! (Please enjoy the pun) Now thanks to digital we no longer print and store photos like we used to but  what about all the ones stashed around the house?

 My parents have been married for almost 40 years; it’s safe to bet they cumulated quite a bit of photos.  I took it upon myself to downside and organize all their photos. Once I got started everyone was jumping in, it was a great family bonding moment. We had a great time sharing our memories and stories. I also learned a lot about each other and I heard some stories I’d never had before. If you have the spare time, grab the family and start organizing. Remember a picture is worth a thousand words and a pretty great story.

You will need:

·         Acid free boxes with a lid

·         Permanent Marker

·         Your pictures

·         Dividers (if they don’t come with the box)

·         Pencil with a good eraser

OrgaOrganizing
               First locate and gather your pictures in an area to work. Make sure it’s someplace you’re going to be comfortable, so you’re able to stay motivated and enjoy revisiting memories.  Bring a large tub for recycling into your work area. Make sure your work area is clean and clear of any liquids.

Pull out about five envelopes, page through the pictures and organize. Look at what you have and try forming different piles; you will want to turn into a tab finder in the boxes for example. You will place all those pictures that correspond with the tab finder title behind the tab in a box I gave a tab to:

·         Individual pets

·         Homes we lived in

·         Each person in the immediate family

·         My mother’s side

·         My father’s side

·         Vacations we took

Once you have gone through label your piles and continue the process with more envelopes.

I designated an entire box to negatives, CD’s, canisters of other film; I dubbed these “the originals”.

 WhatKeep, Recylce, or Pitch
                        Recycle – the empty picture folders, any doubles or  triples you really don’t need, photos that are out of focus or just not flattering to anyone in the picture. If you took several pictures of one thing or grouping of people pick the best three and ditch the rest.

Keep- any pictures of places you used to live, great shots that make you laugh or bring back fun memories.

Share- While making piles I designated a few I wanted to give to my friends or other family members. I stored these in envelopes with their names written on in pencil.
                                                                                                                                           Labeling and Fileing
Label the back of any photo that does not clearly portray what is going on, IE houses you used to live, label it with the years you lived there and the address. When filling in the dividers list events and people in the pictures and the years on the dividers.

 For example my brothers tab showed pictures of him from his first baseball game to senior prom and commissioning ceremonies complete with years.

Next decide which pile to put in which box, I gave one to vacations, another to family and a third to pictures from my Grandmother’s house. Label boxes with general terms such as Family, Vacations.

Your other option is to divide based on year, in that case divide the boxes by decades (it’s possible to fit 2 decades or more into 1 box. Then break the dividers into years and file accordingly. It is important to be specific with labeling pictures in this case.

Some Tips Before You Start
                         Pictures contain silver which if not properly stored can bleed and leak onto other pictures.  Pictures often become stuck together when something ruins the silver in the picture. The culprit is often times dirt, water, improper storage, or if your me my cat. (some strange phenomenon to me she likes to like pictures)

Storing you pictured once you have them organized in boxes needs to be a cool climate controlled area off the ground to avoid flood damage.

The lid helps keep critters and dust out.

If you decide not use the box method make sure your albums are acid free.  Storage methods made from different chemicals an compromise the pictures, acid free ensures that the pictures won’t become damaged from their storage containers over time.

If your boxes don’t come with dividers card stock or scrapbook paper, which is acid free can make for great dividers.

See   storage advice and be patient it takes a lot of time and you will keep finding pictures to file around the house so make sure you put your boxes someplace easy to reach for a while. This does not have to be a project you complete in one day.

Make sure to put pictures away to keep safe when not working on organizing them.