How to Preserve Family Photos: A Quest to Save Family Stories, One Photo at a Time

Preserving family photos is an essential task for anyone who wants to safeguard their cherished memories and pass them down to future generations. Family photos are a treasure trove of history, emotions, and experiences that can be lost forever if not properly preserved. In this article, we will explore the importance of preserving family photos, the best methods for preserving them, and how to create and store digital images, tell family stories through photos, display and share them, and more.

By preserving these photographs, we can safeguard our family’s history and cultural identity. It is crucial to use appropriate materials and techniques to prevent damage to old photographs.

Understanding the Importance of Preserving Family Photographs

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Preserving family photographs is essential for maintaining a connection to our past and ensuring that cherished memories are passed down to future generations. Family photos are a tangible link to our heritage, providing a visual representation of our ancestors, their lives, and their experiences. By preserving these photographs, we can safeguard our family’s history and cultural identity.

Moreover, family photographs can serve as a valuable resource for genealogical research, providing clues about our ancestors’ lives, relationships, and migrations. They can also evoke emotions, spark conversations, and create a sense of belonging among family members.

In today’s digital age, preserving family photographs is more important than ever. With the rise of digital technology, it’s easier to share and access family photos, but it’s also more crucial to ensure that these digital images are properly preserved for the long-term. By taking steps to protect both physical and digital images, we can ensure that our family stories are preserved for future generations.

Preserving Family Photos on Archival Quality Paper

Preserving family photos requires careful handling, storage, and protection from environmental hazards. Here are some tips to help you preserve your family photos: Protecting original photographs from fading and discoloration due to light exposure is crucial.

  • Handle photos with care: Always handle photos with clean, dry hands, and avoid touching the surface of the photo. If you must handle a photo, wear gloves to prevent oils from your skin from damaging the photo.
  • Store photos in a cool, dry place: Avoid storing photos in attics, basements, or garages, as these areas are prone to extreme temperatures and humidity. Instead, store them in a room with a consistent temperature between 60-70°F (15-21°C) and humidity levels between 30-50%. Preserving paper prints requires special care to maintain their integrity and longevity.
  • Use acid-free materials: Use acid-free paper, boxes, and folders to store your photos. Acidic materials can damage photos over time, causing them to yellow, fade, or become brittle. Properly store photographs to prevent deterioration.
  • Avoid direct sunlight: Direct sunlight can cause photos to fade, so it’s essential to store them away from direct sunlight. If you must display a photo, use UV-filtering glass or acrylic to minimize damage.
  • Use lignin-free materials: Lignin is a chemical found in wood pulp that can damage photos. Look for lignin-free materials, such as archival-quality paper, to store your photos. Keeping large photographs stored flat helps prevent curling and other forms of damage.

Best Practices for Preserving Family Photos

To ensure the longevity of your family photographs, follow these best practices:

  1. Handle with care: Always handle family photos with clean, dry hands. Avoid touching the surface of the photo, as oils from your skin can damage the image.
  2. Store in a cool, dry place: Keep family photos away from direct sunlight, moisture, and extreme temperatures. Store them in a cool, dry place, such as a closet or drawer.
  3. Use archival-quality materials: Use acid-free, lignin-free paper and photo storage materials to prevent damage and deterioration.
  4. Avoid fluorescent light: Fluorescent light can cause photos to fade, so avoid storing them near fluorescent light sources.
  5. Lay flat: Store photos flat, rather than standing them up, to prevent creasing and bending.
  6. Make digital copies: Create digital copies of your family photos to ensure they are preserved for the long-term.
  7. Organize and label: Organize your family photos in a logical and consistent manner, and label them with relevant information, such as dates, names, and locations.

By following these best practices, you can protect your family photographs from damage and ensure that they remain a cherished part of your family’s history for generations to come.

Handling and Caring for Fragile Photos

Digitize photos

Fragile photos require special care to ensure their preservation. Here are some tips for handling and caring for fragile photos:

  1. Handle with gloves: Wear gloves when handling fragile photos to prevent oils from your skin from damaging the image.
  2. Use a soft brush: Use a soft-bristled brush to gently remove dust and debris from the surface of the photo.
  3. Avoid bending or folding: Avoid bending or folding fragile photos, as this can cause creasing and damage.
  4. Use a photo storage box: Store fragile photos in a photo storage box or album, using acid-free, lignin-free paper and materials.
  5. Keep them away from children and pets: Fragile photos can be easily damaged by children and pets, so keep them out of reach.
  6. Consider professional conservation: If your fragile photos are severely damaged or deteriorated, consider consulting a professional conservator for advice and treatment.

By following these best practices and handling fragile photos with care, you can ensure that your family photographs are preserved for generations to come.

Creating and Storing Digital Images

Creating digital images of your family photos is an excellent way to preserve them for future generations. Here are some tips for creating and storing digital images:

  • Scan photos at high resolution: Use a scanner with a minimum resolution setting of 300ppi to capture the details of your photos.
  • Save as TIFF or TIF files: TIFF files are lossless, meaning they won’t compress or lose quality over time. Save your scanned photos as TIFF files to preserve their quality.
  • Use metadata: Add metadata to your digital images, including information about the photo, such as who, what, where, and when. This will help you and future generations identify and find the photos.
  • Store digital images safely: Store your digital images on multiple devices, such as external hard drives, cloud storage, and USB drives. Follow the 3-2-1 rule: three copies, stored on two different media, and one copy located off-site.

Telling Family Stories through Photos

Photos are a powerful way to tell family stories and preserve memories. Here are some tips for telling family stories through photos:

  • Add captions: Add captions to your photos to provide context and tell the story behind the photo.
  • Create a photo album: Create a physical or digital photo album to store your photos and tell the story of your family’s history.
  • Share photos with family members: Share your photos with family members and ask them to add their own stories and memories.
  • Use photos to spark conversations: Use photos to spark conversations with family members and encourage them to share their own stories and memories.

Displaying and Sharing Family Photos

Displaying and sharing family photos is a great way to enjoy and preserve them. Here are some tips for displaying and sharing family photos:

  • Use UV-filtering glass or acrylic: When displaying photos, use UV-filtering glass or acrylic to minimize damage from direct sunlight.
  • Create a photo display: Create a photo display using frames, albums, or digital displays to showcase your favorite photos.
  • Share photos online: Share your photos online with family members and friends using social media, email, or online photo sharing platforms.
  • Create a family photo archive: Create a family photo archive to store and share your photos with future generations.

Rachel LaCour NiesenRachel LaCour Niesen, Steward of Stories & Co-Founder of Save Family Photos, is a Yankee by birth but a Southern storyteller at heart. When a much-loved uncle gifted her with her first SLR camera, Rachel found her calling in photography. In pursuit of her passion, she headed to the University of Missouri, where she studied Photojournalism and Art History. When she’s not curating vintage family photos, she enjoys adventures with her husband and partner in entrepreneurship, Andrew Niesen.

 

Save Family Photos is a site curated by Rachel LaCour Niesen who is committed to helping people save and share their family photo legacies. Here she talks about this mission, why it means so much to her, and how people can overcome roadblocks to preserving priceless memories.

Family photos are a treasure trove of history, emotions, and experiences that can be lost forever if not properly preserved. The importance of preserving old family photos is paramount due to their fragility and the potential fading caused by environmental factors. These family treasures are crucial for maintaining the continuity of family history and memories.

SC: Tell us about your mission at Save Family Photos.

RLN: Our mission is simple – to save family stories, one photo at a time. That mission is carried out largely through social media. Our Instagram feed and Facebook page are virtual campfires; people gather around to share their stories.

In my experience, family photos are one of the best ways to trigger stories. They spark our imaginations, they tap into our memories and they harness the power of nostalgia. And that’s why photos are like glue; they hold our stories together. And of course, every family has boxes and drawers full of old photos. Those photos mark milestones like birthdays, weddings, graduations, reunions and holidays.

Most family snapshots capture simple, fleeting moments that showcase the beauty of everyday life. I think those photos are priceless; they reveal the extraordinary in the ordinary. They remind you that your story started before you. My team and I are committed to encouraging families to preserve these priceless stories for future generations.

Photo Scanning

SC: Was there any one event or experience that motivated you to start your site?

RLN: Yes, there was. And even to this day, there is one event that propels me forward with my mission to help families save their stories: the death of my grandfather. My maternal grandfather was a larger-than-life character; he was gregarious and took up a lot of space, both physically and emotionally. So when he died, he left a space open in my heart that will probably always remain open. As I grieved his death, I wanted to celebrate the legacy he left behind.

So I started scanning pictures – from his childhood to military service to marrying my grandmother and raising my mom. There were so many memories, imprinted onto film. But there was a lot I didn’t know. Some of the photos were like breadcrumbs that led me down a path of questioning. I posted a few photos of my grandfather on Instagram and Facebook. Then, I invited family and friends to tell me what they remembered.

It was actually pretty simple; each photo garnered comments that told me more about my grandfather’s life and legacy. I decided to try to broaden the experience. I tagged some friends and asked them to post photos of their grandparents and ask questions. In turn, they encouraged people in their networks to share. Fast forward to today – my team and I receive thousands of family photos and stories from around the world. It’s really humbling.

SC: I went through some of the stories on the site and was hooked. What is it about photos that draws us in, even when they involve strangers?

RLN: Photos are passports. They transport us to a place called memory. That’s why they hook us – they let us become time travelers. From vintage wedding portraits, to snapshots of first birthdays and family roadtrips, the vintage photos we share are magnetic. They draw folks in because they are so simple, so relatable.

I believe the community archive of @SaveFamilyPhotos is a treasure trove of family history and character studies. Our photo feed highlights heritage, spanning continents and cultures. No matter where you come from, there’s a cross-cultural commitment to family. We all have family stories; we all have history. Those stories deserve to be preserved.

That’s why gathering around a virtual campfire, whether it’s online or in-person, is so important: when someone else shares their story, it encourages us to tell our own. We can all celebrate each other’s family history, while still respecting our individual legacies.

Photos To Digital

SC: What is the biggest roadblock to doing something about their family photos for most people? How can they get past it?

RLN: In one word, the biggest roadblock to tackling the task of organizing and preserving family photos is TIME. It seems simultaneously exciting and paralyzing to discover a big box of vintage family photos. In order to take the next steps and preserve them, we have to understand WHY our family pictures are so important.

For me, this is the biggest catalyst to taking action: aging family members. Before we know it, some of our loved ones will be gone before we have a chance to ask about their life stories. Family photos contain clues to our ancestors’ lives and legacies. When we take time to ask our loved ones about old family pictures, we ensure that their stories are saved for future generations. Digitizing family photos honors your family history.

There’s no perfect time to get started – just grab those boxes of photos and get going today. Your family will thank you. If you need help, there’s no shame in outsourcing!  We’re all super busy, with daily to-do lists that are a mile long.

In fact, partnering with a service that takes on the job of scanning hundreds – or thousands – of family photos can feel like a welcomed relief. I recommend setting aside some funds annually to outsource family history projects. That may mean signing up for a family history service like Ancestry.com, or FamilySearch, or sending off a few boxes of photos to be scanned.

Take it one step at a time. Maybe you can separate out a handful of photos that you’d like to scan yourself, and then send the rest to a partner who can help you digitize your archives efficiently. All of us can work together to rescue our priceless family photos from deterioration, theft, natural disaster and loss. Those photos are in danger; as a result, so is family history.

digitize old photos

preserve family photos

SC: What have you learnt about people and families through your project? Any human insights or patterns that you can talk about?

RLN: National Endowment for the Humanities Chairman William Adams says, “We know that America’s cultural heritage isn’t found only in libraries and museums, but in our homes, in our family histories, and the stories and objects we pass down to our children.”

This quote sits on my desktop and reminds me why I do what I do. I have a deep sense of purpose about helping families preserve their photos, because it helps us heal. Often, I think talking about family photos can bring families closer together. Images spark memories and memories make us feel bonded to each other. Sometimes, images can even help heal old wounds.

Overall,  I’ve been humbled by people’s participation. When I started this passion project, I had no clue it would gain such widespread support. At first, I just reached out to my family and friends to ask for photos to feature on our Instagram feed. Now we’ve grown from just a few followers to over 30k followers and over 20k hashtagged photos (#savefamilyphotos). I’m still pinching myself!