I’m a little bit passionate about photographs and memories.
In 1997 – while living and studying in Dijon, France – I completed a seminal project which involved replicating photos from the 1850s from around the city of Chalon-sur-Saône in the Burgundy region. Chalon is regarded as the birthplace of photography and the home of Nicéphore Niépce, known as the father of modern day photography. While my photos were nothing to write home about, my French was passable and the project gained high enough marks that my instructor asked to keep it at the Université de Bourgogne for an exhibition of student works after my return to the States!
No small coincidence: when I returned to the U.S. to transfer to the University of Arkansas and figure out a major, an enthusiastic French professor reviewed my project and language certificate and told me if I’d take a few more French classes, a degree would be mine. Sold!
My passion continues in a collection of antique cameras including a red one that was my grandfather’s (the same grandfather mentioned in the photography post defending the blurry ones).
Lots to see here: my Mom’s 1964 copy of Les Misérables (more on that here), antique cameras, accoutrements of that French photo project, extra effects (thanks PicMonkey – love!), a vintage postcard from Jamaica and one of my grandfather’s Prince Albert cans.
All that to say: given this passion for taking and displaying photos, you’d think I would have my act together on keeping them organized.
If you’re groaning along with me, trust me – I get it. This is a seemingly insurmountable task that makes moms around the world feel guilty. We are great at TAKING the photos… just not so great at keeping them accessible.
It’s not that I haven’t made valiant efforts through the years: all my personal travel photos are neatly organized, and my own childhood photos and the first few years of our marriage are chronicled in brown leather albums.
Then, the children arrived.
From 2004 onward, I lost all control of our photographs and I place full blame on my kids. However, enough was finally enough. This holiday season I found myself with some excess vacation time to use up before the new year, so I took quite a few days off and tackled a project that I’ve been procrastinating for over a decade: organizing our family photos. I was determined to close out 2014 with our photographs organized and backed up in the cloud.
For Christmas, I (ahem, finally) completed several photo gifts for my husband, the man who needs nothing material on this planet and cherishes his role as a father. I’ve started gifting him an annual photo book of highlights (mostly our girls) from the past year:
In addition, I got tired of staring at those gorgeous gallery walls in everyone else’s homes, not feasible here at The Good House (circa 1905) thanks to unforgiving, difficult to penetrate walls. So, I made my own version: the gallery canvas.
Best of all: as I type this I am proud to say that 14,001 photos from the past decade are indeed organized and backed up in the cloud. (I even proved myself by digging out a 2003 photo my husband took of a bald eagle within minutes for Stephanie’s Only in Ark series!)
Watch for a post later this week on the tools and tactics I used in case you’re looking to make this a 2015 resolution of your own!
In the meantime, here’s a little inspiration and some more photographic nostalgia if you’re in the mood to share my enthusiasm for reminiscing:
Faded Photos and Reel To Reel Movies
Oh dear Beth…please tackle my photo monster. I ways have the best intentions….
Debbie, I have a solution for you! Watch for the post going up on Saturday. I have found the perfect tool for organizing photos, and you of all people need it! I’ve seen how many photos you take. 🙂 Plus, it pulls from Facebook and Instagram so you can keep up with all those great photos other people take – like the cute one of Judge Gary being sworn in last night! 🙂