How Did We Get Buried in Photos?
How big is your digital photo and video collection? It’s not uncommon to have tens of thousands of images documenting family life, hobbies, and interests. My own digital collection holds about 45,000 files. Add to that the boxes of prints, scrapbooks, slides, tapes, and movie reels from my parents. I’ve made progress organizing my ever-expanding collection over the years, but I still feel like I’m buried in photos.
Did you know the accumulation of photos and videos has spurred the growth of a new industry known as photo organizing or photo management? Professionals in this field help people organize and share their pictures and videos or provide resources for those who want to learn how to do it themselves.
Few people organize photos just for the sake of it. Instead, it’s often a milestone event—a birthday, graduation, or anniversary—that sends us rummaging through countless files and prints for just the right images to create a photo book, video, or special gift. These projects can be rewarding, but they also reveal just how overwhelming a massive photo collection can be.
How did we get to the point where our media collections feel like a chore to manage? It’s a question I have asked myself as I look at my own growing collection. Accessibility, decreasing costs, and the sheer quantity of media over the years have made this a challenge many of us share.
Photo Overload Driven by Evolving Technology and Habits
In its early days, photography was largely a professional endeavor or an expensive hobby. That began to change with the introduction of the Kodak Brownie camera. Affordable and easy to use, the Brownie made it possible for everyday people to document their lives, transforming photography into a widespread activity and laying the foundation for the accumulation of family photos we have today.
This was especially true for my grandma, who worked in a camera store during the 1920s. Many of the photos I have from her youth—capturing her and her friends—likely came from this time, thanks to her access to cameras and film. Back then, film and developing were expensive, but I’m guessing my grandma’s job provided discounts, which explains the many photos from her youth and young adult years.
Even with limited resources, the people of my grandmother’s era established the tradition of documenting family life with photos.
Instamatic Cameras and Double Prints
By the time I was growing up, photography had become even more accessible with the introduction of the Instamatic camera. The size, simplicity, and low cost of these cameras made documenting milestones and everyday events even more convenient. This was the camera I found easy to use as an 11-year-old at camp and handy to tuck into my backpack during my semester abroad as a college junior.
My husband had a 35 mm camera when we got married and that’s what we used to document family life when our kids were young. It wasn’t as easy to use or as convenient as an Instamatic, but I appreciated the quality of the pictures it produced. For us, neither film nor developing was cheap, but we just kept taking pictures and sent our rolls in for processing when we could afford it. To make the most of our photos, we’d order double or triple prints so I could make albums and send copies to grandparents.
Digital Explosion of Images
When I got my first digital camera, I once again had the convenience of a smaller camera, plus I could take as many photos as I wanted without worrying about using up valuable film. However, to share or include them in scrapbooks, I still needed to make prints, adding to both my digital and physical collections.
The arrival of smartphones brought another leap. Having a camera with me all the time meant I captured even more everyday moments. The ability to take multiple photos meant I could increase the chance of getting a great picture, but I never seemed to get around to deleting the ones I didn’t use.
Scanning prints to create photo books and video slideshows for milestone celebrations added another layer to my digital library. What began as a way to honor memories contributed to the number of files and hard drive space I needed to store them.
Inherited Photo Collections from Parents
My media collection started to take over closet space when my parents downsized and I inherited their scrapbooks, albums, slides, VHS tapes, Super 8 movie reels, audio cassette tapes, and framed photos. Many of these items predate my own memories, capturing moments from my parents’ and grandparents’ lives. My husband’s family also contributed to our growing stacks of tubs and boxes, adding old photographs and keepsakes from their own history.
While these items hold immense sentimental value to our family in the stories they represent, storing them in bins and boxes comes with risks. My aunt unfortunately discovered this when she lost all her family photos in a flood. Digital files also face the threat of being lost forever, as I discovered when I had a hard drive crash. Whether digital or physical, no collection is entirely safe without proper care.
Overcome the Photo Overwhelm
Being buried in photos doesn’t have to be permanent and you can minimize the risks that threaten the survival of your family memories and history. As a member of the Photo Managers, I’ve learned best practices for organizing family media collections and making them manageable.
Organizing isn’t just about tidying up—it’s about rediscovering and preserving the stories that matter most. Whether you want to preserve family history or simply enjoy your favorite memories more easily, taking small steps to organize your collection can make a big difference. With the right guidance, organizing your collection becomes an opportunity to reconnect with the moments that matter most. These stories deserve to be told, shared, and protected for future generations.
Want to take the first step toward managing your photo collection?
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