Dealing with Photo Album Collection
Discussion
My father died recently and has left behind (amongst other things) a wardrobe full of photo albums recording his trips around the world as a keen birdwatcher. They are the traditional type of album, albeit of the stick-down sort rather than sleeves. There are about 50 of them and we want to clear some space.
I'm going through each of them to take out the best handful of photos from each to make into one "best of" album. I hope I can get the lot in one 200 photo album. It'll be a challenge.
Anyway, anyone got experience of this sort of thing with regards what I do with what's left? At a pinch I reckon I could end up with 5-10 nice recent albums that a charity shop might want but I reckon the majority of the others will look scruffy in one way or another. That means they will probably end up at the tip. Then there's the 90+% of the photos that we don't want. It looks like the paper isn't really much use for recycling so they will probably end up there as well. Shame. I could contact a birding club to ask if anyone wants them but being honest, such photos are probably commonplace with well-travelled birders and can be found on the internet anyway.
Any ideas?
I'm going through each of them to take out the best handful of photos from each to make into one "best of" album. I hope I can get the lot in one 200 photo album. It'll be a challenge.
Anyway, anyone got experience of this sort of thing with regards what I do with what's left? At a pinch I reckon I could end up with 5-10 nice recent albums that a charity shop might want but I reckon the majority of the others will look scruffy in one way or another. That means they will probably end up at the tip. Then there's the 90+% of the photos that we don't want. It looks like the paper isn't really much use for recycling so they will probably end up there as well. Shame. I could contact a birding club to ask if anyone wants them but being honest, such photos are probably commonplace with well-travelled birders and can be found on the internet anyway.
Any ideas?
It sounds like the albums are those that have feint strips of low-tack adhesive running at an angle which hold the photos and film cover into place. When they get old, they can go one of two ways; either the adhesive looses all its stick and the photos come away easily. Or it turns into cement. If the latter, dribble some lighter fluid on the edge of the photo and let it seep down and they should then come away easily.
With the keepers, you could scan them and make them into a photo book. There's some lovely options available and you get a hardback, fully bound book rather than an album. Check out Bobs Books.
That said, there is something more tactile and personable about actual photographs as they're things that your Dad would have cherished and applied great care in collating, curating and arranging. Digitising looses all that so arranging in a nice new album will preserve his passion - though there's no harm in doing both.
As for the rest, personally, I wouldn't bin them. Put them in a box and in the loft. You may never look at them again but you may also suffer regret if you bin them.
With the keepers, you could scan them and make them into a photo book. There's some lovely options available and you get a hardback, fully bound book rather than an album. Check out Bobs Books.
That said, there is something more tactile and personable about actual photographs as they're things that your Dad would have cherished and applied great care in collating, curating and arranging. Digitising looses all that so arranging in a nice new album will preserve his passion - though there's no harm in doing both.
As for the rest, personally, I wouldn't bin them. Put them in a box and in the loft. You may never look at them again but you may also suffer regret if you bin them.
StevieBee said:
As for the rest, personally, I wouldn't bin them. Put them in a box and in the loft. You may never look at them again but you may also suffer regret if you bin them.
Yes, I would keep them as is. Once you've thrown something away you can't get it back, even if you don't want it just now.Thanks for your replies. I've started the process now and as suggested, each album turns out to be a bit different. For some the photos pull out easily and at the extreme other end, for one album it is literally impossible to take the photos off the sticky backing. I appreciate the suggestion of scanning but 90% of the photos are coming out in good shape and fit for use in another "best of" album. Most of the rest are mostly just a little bit curled or in some cases slightly bent but nothing a big pile of books wont sort out. The ones that are firmly stuck in the album might need the stanley knife treatment. I can then get them scanned and make a decision on whether they are good enough or whether to use the originals with the backing still stuck to them.
I also appreciate the suggestion to keep what's left in the loft but I'm at that stage of life when I've seen the results of endless storage of old stuff that has some sentimental value or "might come in handy" . My 80+ mum has seen even more of it and is keen we don't just take the easy option and keep everything "just in case". Endless photos of rare gulls in Alaska that look just like seagulls in Hastings really aren't going to be appreciated by any family member in the future. By the way, the 50 pictures I've taken out of the first 10 albums are beautiful. Some birds (kingfishers seem to be very photogenic), plus various other animals, Indian, African and South American towns and villages, mountains and rivers and people he met on his travels. Really marvelous.
Oh yes, I don't think the charity shop is going to get much. Once the pictures are out very few albums look like the sort of thing anyone would want to pay anything for. Crumpled sticky film, bobbling glue and and yellowing edges afflict almost all of them.
I also appreciate the suggestion to keep what's left in the loft but I'm at that stage of life when I've seen the results of endless storage of old stuff that has some sentimental value or "might come in handy" . My 80+ mum has seen even more of it and is keen we don't just take the easy option and keep everything "just in case". Endless photos of rare gulls in Alaska that look just like seagulls in Hastings really aren't going to be appreciated by any family member in the future. By the way, the 50 pictures I've taken out of the first 10 albums are beautiful. Some birds (kingfishers seem to be very photogenic), plus various other animals, Indian, African and South American towns and villages, mountains and rivers and people he met on his travels. Really marvelous.
Oh yes, I don't think the charity shop is going to get much. Once the pictures are out very few albums look like the sort of thing anyone would want to pay anything for. Crumpled sticky film, bobbling glue and and yellowing edges afflict almost all of them.
Useful message to the majority who now have tens of thousands of digital pictures.
1. It's far to many for anyone else to sort through.
2. Does anyone else have access to them.
The reality is that although we now take several orders of magnitude more photos, our next of kin will have almost nothing to keep.
Pick your best hundred or so every decade, and have them printed in a photo book.
1. It's far to many for anyone else to sort through.
2. Does anyone else have access to them.
The reality is that although we now take several orders of magnitude more photos, our next of kin will have almost nothing to keep.
Pick your best hundred or so every decade, and have them printed in a photo book.
Cheers. For my own photos I still have photo albums and as you suggest put the very best of my countless digital pictures in them. I'd say that it's for about one in every 10-20 of the the photos that I keep on my computer. And the ones on my computer are about a third or a quarter of what I took in the first place.
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