I have a lot of photographs.
Some of my earliest memories are of looking at photographs with my grandparents, listening to them tell me what I was looking at. The narrative can be as important as the pictures, giving them context, or as in my case, a simple explanation about what I was seeing.
As the last surviving member of my immediate family, I am in possession of all the photographs that survived the various moves, and editing by others. Which is probably a good thing, since at last count I have over a half dozen large plastic storage totes filled with pictures. That's not counting the ones filled with negatives or slides.
My project is to finally organize and catalog them for my nephew. If I do not do that, then all the knowledge of the who and when and where of the majority of the pictures will pass when I pass. There are some photos that are marked on the back with names, or locations, and sometimes the year. But mostly not.
Plus there is all the undocumented stuff - places I've lived, or buildings my dad worked on, schools attended. Things that, while I am in possession of that knowledge, no one else is. That is not an exaggeration.
Adding to that, is my collection of pictures and memories - some personal to me such as an engagement that went nowhere. Some very general in nature such as buildings that have since been torn down, but had been local landmarks, or stores that I remembered going into as a youth.
So far, I have scanned and key-worded close to three thousand pictures, not slides or negatives, but photographic prints. I still have some I need to find the originals of, to make sure I have recorded the information on the back. Then it is time to scan slides and negatives, and key-word those.
I'm glad I feel healthy.
No comments:
Post a Comment