Organizing Photographs

Among those things that just seem to pile up are photographs. Some of our clients struggle with finding ways to store not only the photographs that they have personally taken but containers of pictures that have come to them from various relatives living and deceased. It is hard to know where to begin when overwhelmed with multiple generations of photo images, but there are a few techniques that work for most people.

Decide on a time to tackle sorting the photographs.

Decide on broad categories for sorting. Some examples are vacations, birthdays, special events, school activities

Set out containers labeled with each of the broad categories. The containers may be bags, boxes or baskets. Just make sure they are large enough to accommodate the volume of pictures you are sorting.

Sort the photographs into the categories. While you are sorting, try not to linger or reminisce over the photos. Discard duplicates and similar shots that did not turn out well.

Take the broad categories and sort into individual events, birthdays, vacations, etc. and order them chronologically or according to your fancy.

Estimate what you need to store your photos and purchase supplies. Some choices are frames for display, albums, labeled photo boxes, photo sleeves in binders. Whatever you choose for storage, make sure it is acid free archival material and contains no PVC. Magnetic pages are usually not a good choice for storage. Digital storage is always an option and programs exist for storing, cataloguing and retrieving photographs.

Once you have your photos organized get in the habit of developing photos immediately and storing them in the appropriate space. Schedule 15 minutes every week to follow up on photo organization.

Enjoy reviewing the images and share them frequently with family and friends.


Beverly and Kristen
www.keytransitions.net