We take photos to capture what we care about. Our photos help tell the
stories of our lives—the experiences we had, the people we loved, and the
lessons we learned. They connect generations—past, present, and future—and
reinforce positive values. Studies show that storytelling also has a significant
impact on the well-being of children.
If you’ve ever experienced the passing of a loved one, no doubt you’ve
spent time poring over old photo albums, videos, audio recordings, and written
journals. Reminiscing is a vital part of the grief process and allows you to
relive all of the precious times you spent together. Every artifact is part of
a very important story—a legacy that should be remembered for generations to
come. Wouldn’t it be much easier to tell that story if the photos were organized?
That’s why we’ve created this guide—to help you get your memories together and
sorted in a format that will not only make sense for you in your life today but
will also help you piece together the overall story that you want to tell your
children and grandchildren.
Before you can begin organizing your photos, you must first gather them
all together in one place. Designate a temporary workspace for the purpose of
assembling your collection. Locate all photos, including loose printed
photographs, photo albums, negatives, slides, and undeveloped film. Also,
determine the locations where your digital photos are currently stored, such as
your smartphones, computers, tablets, external hard drives, flash drives, and
cloud storage platforms.
The first thing you’ll want to do is create a timeline of family events
such as weddings, birth dates, vacations, and important milestones. Each event
will be a new category for your photos. Start with your printed collection.
Sort through your photos and beginning making piles based on categories you
determined, and add subcategories as needed. As you’re placing photos on your
family timeline, mark each one according to its level of importance. Photo
organizers use a simple acronym called “The ABC’s”
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