Crafty people -- how would you organize a LOT of photos?

apollonia666

So I have a ton of old family photos that I'd like to organize into albums and I've been at a loss as to how to organize them. We're talking HUNDREDS of pictures here. My parents are both gone, so I've ended up with pretty much all the pictures they ever had, so I've got many from either side of my family dating back over the last century all the way back to some I can't even identify but would like to keep because they're really cool. Like, for instance, one of a wedding party in Mississippi in what looks to be the 1920's or 30's, guessing from the clothing, and one of an old barber shop with a wood stove, and these guys:



Some of them I'm going to put in frames because they're pretty cool, but most need to go into albums. I bought a couple of scrapbooks, extra pages, and photo corner adhesive a couple of weeks ago, and I've sorted the photos according to who's in them, although now I'm wondering whether I should sort them chronologically (as best I can figure that out) instead.

Any suggestions as to how I should approach organizing this project? I'm really at a loss as to how to move forward with this.

pitu

Great photo! I wish I had more stuff that old....

I have a small book of my favorites that cuts across chronology, then boxes of other stuff that I plan to put in albums one day . . . I lurve some of my parent's books where they actually bothered to put things in books closer to when they happened. Huge black books, with special built-in tissue (spider web pattern, go figure) between the sheets.

I have no great ideas for you, but I know the online world has.
If you need more supplies, Kate's Paperie (B'way/Prince) has great photo archiving supplies, with acid-free archival blah blah and those little corners that won't mess up the photos.

brooklynpotter

i'd go through the photos and choose the absolute best and use them for a number of really good albums. then i'd get those really good archival photo boxes to store the rest chronologically.

that is one fANTASTIC picture

apollonia666

Yeah, isn't that pic teh awesome? I have NO idea who any of those dudes are. I suppose I could compare faces with pics of people I do have figured out, but my dad's side of the family (which is where it's from) is largely a mystery.

These are great suggestions! I've been stewing on it and I'm also going to try to make some smaller albums for my brother and sister and niece. I can do your idea of small albums that span a lot of time. And I don't think I would ever have thought of the archival boxes.

Thanks, lady craft nerds!

brooklynpotter

not a prob. in my previous life i was a magazine editor for woman's mags, i specialized in home design, entertaining, lifestyle and crafts. and i'm much nicer than martha.

tcollins10

but can you knit a poncho in prison? ;-)

I swear I posted yesterday about what a great picture that is, but don't know where the heck the post went.

brooklynpotter

the poncho was *crocheted*, flexi dear. but i can't do origami. or cleaning. or math. i can do everything else.

catherine50

Well, there you go. I'm the farthest from crafty you can be. In fact, I lack just about all domestic skills. Hopefully I will come back as a man in my next life ;-)

(um, that's a joke. Seems nobody quite remembers what that is on here any more)

emily

Be sure to find archival storage stuff, pricey though it is. I'm feeling too lazy to type out an explanation now but you can ask me later or google it.

doctorj

I'd make high res scans myself and organise a website, as that takes up no space, and then talk to Emily about quality archival storage.

stacey

Just saw this post Appollonia - I think its great that you are putting together those fantastic photos. Before I had my son I had so many photos that I never put in albums. After my son I was really careful about putting the photos in chronological order in albums. I finally turned to my older photos and in most of them I forgot the time frame of the photos and some of the people in the photo but I wound up organizing them by event - wedding, vacations, picnics, family gatherings, etc. Most of my duplicates and photos that were not very flattering are in photo storage boxes.

I just saw a great idea recently on one of the HGTV shows about putting photos on wall tiles which I will be trying my hand at soon
http://tinyurl.com/y2hbyk

I also have a great little side coffee table where I wanted to put some photos on top and then cover with a large glass piece the same size as the top. I have sooo many great photos of friends and family making funny faces or funny poses that I thought it would add some fun to a boring table .

I would also LOVE to transfer some great family photos on to cloth and create a throw quilt for my sofa. I dont think I would be able to do this since I really can't sew to save my life

brooklynpotter

stacey wrote:

I would also LOVE to transfer some great family photos on to cloth and create a throw quilt for my sofa. I dont think I would be able to do this since I really can't sew to save my life

if you can sew a straight line on a machine--and machines are ALWAYS out on trash night--then you can make a quilt. i promise you.