Simple Pleasures: Preserving Analog Memories in a Digital World

Before switching to a digital camera, I remember getting photos printed regularly and enjoying time spent flipping through the albums stored on my shelves. But I also remember feeling positively joyful when I switched to a digital camera. Hooray — no more developing all of the photos (including the bad ones)! No more dealing with the madness of sorting printed photos! Oh, if only it were so simple.

Now it’s years later, and I have so many photos stored on my computer, they’re taking up all of the available space, and I’ve put together exactly one album since the day my child was born four years ago. And I’m willing to bet I’m not the only one with photo issues. If you can relate, read on — let’s reclaim the joy of keeping memories, and get things sorted once and for all.

Get some backup. First of all, if you don’t have any sort of backup system in place for your digital photos, there’s no time like the present to get one going. A one-two punch of an external hard drive and cloud-based storage is the safest bet.

Organizing digital photos — one baby step at a time. If you have a major backlog of unsorted digital photos (ahem, like yours truly), it would be overwhelming to tackle it all at once. Start with just the last month instead. Getting through a single month’s worth of photos is a small enough task to be manageable, and it will feel quite satisfying when it’s done.

If your digital images are at least backed up, you can skip sorting through the backlog (for now) and focus instead on enjoying the process from here on out.


Try this: Using the photo editing program of your choice (like iPhoto or Lightroom), look through the photos you’ve taken in the last month.
Delete blurry shots and obvious duplicates right away.
If there are lots of similar shots, choose the very best image and delete the rest.Create tags for the keepers, to make it easier to retrieve them later. For instance, tag photos with the names of the people in them, the location or the name of the holiday on which they were taken.Give each one a star rating that is meaningful to you. For example, the maximum number of stars could mean “print and frame,” and the next level down could mean “photo album.”


Sorting printed photos. If you rarely print your digital photos, consider how carefully selected photos, either in physical albums or on the wall, can enhance your life. Imagine being able to pull a beautiful album from the shelf to share with friends and family and pass along to your kids. Thankfully, once you’ve gone through the previous steps, the decision-making process (which is the hardest part) will already be done. So have your photos printed locally or order them online … just get it done!

Once your stack of beautiful printed photos arrives, if you are not ready to put them directly into albums or frames, it can help to do some presorting. A standing letter organizer or an expanding file works well for quickly sorting photos by theme, date or people.


Using albums, books and binders. Albums, books and binders all share that wonderfully satisfying, tactile quality — nothing can compare to sitting down with a cup of tea and flipping pages in a photo album. Which you choose will depend on your style and habits.
Love the crafty aspect of putting together scrapbooks? Choose a binder with plain paper or photo sleeves that allow you to mix photos with other paper elements.Want something easier? Choose an album or a binder with simple photo sleeves. Binders are helpful if you want to be able to choose exactly how many pages to include.
Want something superquick and easy? Skip the printing step and order a photo book online.Picking one style of book, album or binder and sticking with it will make your life easier — it will save decision-making time, and your shelf will look neater.



Using photo storage boxes. Not so into albums, books or binders? Consider using photo storage boxes instead. They can be just as much fun to flip through, and when thoughtfully organized (by date is easiest), they make it easy to retrieve favorite photos. Just as with albums, choose a color and style you like, and stick with those for a unified look.


Create Meaningful Photo Displays

A photo table. Not all photos end up in albums — some are worth looking at daily. Consider clustering your most treasured photos on a pretty table in a spot you pass by frequently. Since they won’t be attached to the wall, the photos can be easily rotated when you want a change.


A photo wall. A large wall (one in a stairwell is perfect) is a good spot for an ever-growing photo display. Start in the center and allow the display to organically grow as you choose, print and frame additional photos.

How to Design a Family Photo Wall


A rotating display. Photo shelves make it simple to swap out photos as often as you wish. Try hanging a few rows of them to fill up a wall.


Try black and white for a change of pace. Always print your photos in color? Try using your photo editing software to change them to black and white the next time you print a batch. This is also great when you want to mix current family photos with those from past generations on one gallery wall.


Curating Meaningful Objects

Shadow boxes and shelves. Sometimes we take (and save) more than photos — so what to do with the matchbooks, concert tickets and other memorabilia? One thing to keep in mind is that adding objects to your collection can make it grow exponentially, so be very picky about what you keep. Some things you might want to display for only a short time (birthday cards, concert tickets) on a special shelf, and then toss. For meaningful items you want to keep long-term, shadow boxes are a good option.


Storage options for objects. Of course, not all meaningful items need to be on display at all times. Tightly sealed plastic containers may be great at preserving items, but they aren’t very tempting to dig into. Consider paring back on objects you save to what can fit in a set of vintage suitcases or a single trunk — something romantic (and limited in space) that will make cracking it open feel like unearthing a real treasure.

For clothing items think beyond saving whole pieces (though of course that’s an option too). Consider having baby clothes stitched into a memory quilt, for instance, or old sweaters transformed into cozy pillows.


Looking Ahead

Keeping up with a routine. What you choose to do going forward will make all the difference. Aim to make curating your photos a regular, fun and meaningful event. Put it on your calendar once a month and turn it into a celebration. Pour yourself a glass of wine, put on some music and go through the past month’s images (plus a bit more, when you feel inspired), savoring the best bits.

As I face down my own hard drive packed with photos, I’ve decided to give myself a pass on the backlog … for now. I’ve backed up my family photos (what a relief!) and started on a new routine: sitting down for a low-key monthly photo wrangling session with my husband. I’ve found it’s actually sort of fun to do this — a glass of wine really does help, as does knowing I’m finally taking a step toward preserving my little family’s memories. And the albums? Yeah, I’m sticking with ordering photo books online for now. One step at a time.

More
Help for Whittling Down the Photo Pile
Edit Your Photo Collection and Display It Best — a Designer’s Advice

Tell us: How do you sort your digital photos?

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