Back to Photographs

            Well I’m great at telling people what they should do to preserve their photographs, but with my own photographs I have not done so well.  Actually mine are pretty much a study in what not to do. I shouldn’t admit that should I? Anyway over the holidays my daughter wanted to look at old photographs. I had some in an old accordion file (Actually they were my mother’s and grandmother’s so they are old - early 1900s.) I had put them beside the sofa to begin re-housing them in archival envelopes and had actually re-housed a few. That was last Christmas - 2013 not this past one. Oops! Dusty, disorganized, unlabeled. Oh dear.  Somehow it's been easier to go through someone else’s pictures. That is now going to change.

            What to do to rectify the damage and start making forward progress?  Last year I made the decision that I didn’t want to put them in albums so instead I had ordered polyester archival sleeves. Good so far.  That provides protection, but not order. This year I ordered document envelopes so that I can impose organization.  I’ve decided to do it by subject - my mother’s family, my father’s, my childhood and favorite animals and so on.  Other schemes could be by date, certain activities, locations, whatever.  It’s an individual thing.  My mother had started to separate by the subjects I noted so I’m just following her order more or less. Choose your own. By the way there’s nothing wrong with albums.  They do make viewing easier and do protect your photographs as well as sleeves.  I just happen to like sleeves and envelopes  (By the way all of the archival houses have envelopes in lots of 25 or 100 and in various sizes. I got 9 ½ by 12 with a side opening.  Again your choice.)

            As far as the dust is concerned.  It isn’t as bad as I initially thought.  The accordion folder protected most of the pictures and many of the very early ones were in archival sleeves. I do have a can of pressurized air and also a very soft brush.  That is halting any damage.

            Anyway the moral of this story is don’t wait.  Keep up with your photographs and get going with the organizing and re-housing.  Don’t forget to label with pencil or an India ink pen- never a ballpoint.