We have been married for over 40 years, moved and lived in over 20 homes, in 3 countries, and reared 7 children. I have taken thousands of photographs, and finally decided that it was time to divide them. So over the last ten years I have been working on dividing my printed photos between parents and children. Since I don't like to work exclusively on any one project, and because photo work hurts my neck, (from having to bend over and write on the back of each photo saved,) it has never been "on the front burner," so to speak. I just moved along as possible, keeping a photo journal of my difficulties and discoveries so I wouldn't quit. But yesterday, I finished dividing all but three years of the printed photos, from 1975-2010. Hurrah!!
The three years left to do are the years we spent in France. I actually have a photo album with the best photos already in it, (hopefully in order! I think they're in order...), so now I will begin on those french photos left in their packages. I'll have to compare the negatives with the photos in packages and with the photos in the album to keep everything in order. I remember keeping a journal while living in France, so perhaps I can get those out and use them to date the photos. Turns out I threw away the outside envelopes with the dates on them, and only kept the inside envelopes. Ah well, now I have a good reason to read through my journals.
Oh!! So when I find a good journal entry, I can make a copy of it! Now that we have a very nice printer....
What an ambitious project! I hope the memories will be sweet as you go back in time.
ReplyDeleteI have four gigantic boxes of paper photos with their negatives (copies of photos were sent to relatives), and I’ve recently begun snapping iPhone pictures of the photos to preserve them. Then I can put notes on the photos while on the train or while waiting on appointments. When I download the photos, I make copies on an external hard drive, and I burn DVDs, too. So hopefully they will be safer than the temperature-sensitive negatives. But it will take many years, I’m afraid, to convert all the photos to electronic...
Hi, Ruth! Perhaps you'll find this comment. I, too, am working through my extensive photo collection. Thanks for encouraging me by sharing that you saw light a the end of the tunnel!
ReplyDelete