Some questions to ask yourself about your family photographs.

There never seems to be a good time, or enough time, but if ever there is a time, it might be now. With most of the world under quarantine, and our minds reeling with the heaviness of everything that is going on, why not set aside some time to “escape” by going through family photos with your loved ones? Revel in your memories. As you do so, I encourage you to think about a few things… and possibly make some changes going forward.

Am I in them?

I’m really passionate about this one. I only have a handful of pictures of my grandmother, my namesake. We were never able to meet as she died before I was even born. Unhappy with her weight, she avoided cameras like the plague. As a result, I have very few photos of her. Most that I do have are like those on the left, with her actively avoiding the camera. I have just four photos, four, of her smiling. My mom tells me stories of how much fun she was and how everyone loved her and that she was always surrounded by friends. These few pictures give me a tiny glimpse of her fun-loving personality, I sure wish I had some more.

Are you in photos with your family? For the sake of your family’s memories, promise me you’ll let go of any insecurities you may have and get in the frame with your family! And avoid the temptation to delete unflattering photos. No excuses! Your friends and family love you just the way you are and want pictures of you. I swear.

Is it fun to look through them?

A few weeks ago we were celebrating my FIL’s 80th birthday. Toward the end of the evening my MIL suggested we look through old pictures. Fun! We thought. Then she pulled out a shoebox chock full of unlabeled CDs on which they had transferred many of their photos. Oooh, scratch that, not fun. All us ‘kids’ in the room who would have had to rig up countless outdated forms of technology and relentlessly clean CDs that didn’t even appear to be scratched, silently groaned and made excuses to get out of there, ASAP.

There’s nothing like actual photos – whether it be albums or boxes full of them. Make sure that in this digital age you have printed photo keepsakes to look through, reminisce over with family, and hand down for generations to come.

Will they stand the test of time?

Nowadays, photos primarily exist in digital form: on our phones, computers, in the cloud, on social media. But eventually things will change and these photos will not be accessible. Social media apps come and go (hello myspace, google +, vine). Accounts get hacked or blocked. People forget to backup their photos, don’t have enough space in the cloud, drop their phones in the toilet, have their phone stolen… years of photos, gone in an instant.

Or photos on USBs, CDs, floppy disks, external hard drives… can slowly, unknowingly degrade over time. Not to mention, technology changes at an alarming rate. We received a CD with all the digital files from our wedding eight years ago. I made a shitty Shutterfly book with them for our wedding album. Not surprisingly, it started falling apart after a few years. I want to make a new, quality album for our ten year anniversary, but I can’t even access our pictures as our computers no longer have the capability to read CDs.

Moral of the story? Make it a point to print your favorite photos, avoiding home printing and hour developing at all costs (those photos fade after a few years). Try to splurge on some professional photos at least yearly. Most of the photos from my childhood are super faded and have a strange orange tone to them, like Trump, with the exception being those that were printed by a professional. Be sure to store prints and albums smartly. Shoot for a temperature- controlled, dry spot, away from direct sunlight. And be sure to invest in UV resistant glass for your framed photos and the highest quality albums you can afford.

How easy is it to find a particular photo?

As mentioned above, most photos these days are in digital form. Ever try searching for a photo on an unlabeled external hard drive with a bajillion photos on it? How about a CD, which most computers can’t even access anymore? What about searching for a photo from a few years back on Facebook? It’s infuriating. What happened to the timeline? Anyone remember that feature? That was great. I’ve since scrolled for what seemed like DAYS trying to find a picture from a few years back. Only to wave the white flag in defeat. I find instagram a bit easier to locate photos, but they’re about the size of a postage stamp and the quality is less than terrible. Printed photos can easily get out of hand as well if you don’t have a system of organization.

At a bare minimum, print your photos regularly (don’t go crazy and print them all, just print a few of your favorites). Set a reminder to do it every month. Then find a box for each year and throw all photos from the year in it. Or have envelopes for each event or month. Or make an album for each year (design it month by month so it’s not overwhelming). Find something that works for you and stick with it. You will thank yourself. So will your family.

Are they labeled?

I recommend, at a minimum, writing the date and full names of those in the picture. It may seem a bit silly, heck, my family makes fun of me for doing it, but screw them!! Have you ever looked through boxes of old photographs with your parents or grandparents? If not, try it! Want an even bigger challenge?? Look through them without your relatives’ fading memory!! In my experience, hardly any pictures are labeled and it’s a giant, NOT FUN guessing game as to who’s in each picture, what year it was, and what the hell is going on. Incredibly frustrating to say the least.

Do your family a favor, at least with your most treasured photos, and label them!! I challenge you to go even further with some and add a small handwritten story and/or details on the back to help you and your family remember, and any others who may stumble upon your photographs understand.

Can I see my favorites on a day-to-day basis?

Do you have framed photos hanging on your walls that bring a smile to your face no matter what kind of day you’re having? Are your albums displayed so that friends and family can easily grab them to look through? Don’t want to forget the best days of your lives? Make sure to keep the photos from them accessible so you can relive your memories. Research has shown that reviewing pictures as a family strengthens our memories and relationships! So make sure you’re displaying your photos in your home!!

I always found hanging photos to be a bit of a nightmare until a friend shared the pure genius of hanging framed photos with velcro command strips. So much easier, plus, this is HUGE for my OCD self: they never become crooked. Genius, my friend, sheer genius. ❤️

Hope these questions and my thoughts have helped you in some way tackle and tame your ever growing collection of family photographs. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions!

And if you’d like a different perspective, a friend of mine, whose post inspired me to write this, asks a different set of questions which may be helpful for you read through also. Read Jenna’s post by clicking HERE!

xoxo Anna

#youreverydayisworthit