Photoessay #1028 - The picture project

Like many women of a certain age, I really want to transform my mammoth photograph collection into a useful form. I need (or want) to be close to these pictures. I USE them! For this blog. For the memoir certificate program I will be starting in October. I take pictures all the time but usually with some purpose in mind, for example the set of 10 pictures I took in the last hour of my various picture disaster sites plus this GIGANTIC spider which I will spare you, dear reader.

These days most pictures are in electronic form, I fear that these unprinted images will get lost. I would print large number of these from time to time before my trips to Rockford and let my mother and sister take whatever they wanted, consequently I don't know what I've got in printed form.

Let's not forget my spatial organization problem. A task of putting these things in some sort of order is likely impossible for me.

Check out the scope. I inherited ALL of my parent's picture albums plus their slide collections. Plus all Dennis' family's picture albums plus their slide collection.

Check out the action corridor. I've filled an entire bookcase in Susanna's old room with albums and folders. I'fe filled her old desk including the underneath shelves. I have several shoeboxes (as pictured) full of mixed up photos. Plus the china cabinet in the den upstairs where I've put even more pictures. Just imagine how much more useful this would be if I could actually get at it for the boxes of junk in front of it. Not to even mention all of the images stored electronically.

What a treasure chest! What a pile of rubbish! Which one, you choose.

Stepping back, is this all worth it? Will anyone care? In 50 years, when I'm dead and gone? When my children will be older than I am now? Personally I love the pictures that have survived from my parents and grandparents. A friend of mine suggested that not printing out pictures make it easier when we're gone. "I have no children and my brother has no children so it will be much easier for somebody to get rid of all of them when we die" Good point.

I've gone through a lot of the prints and thrown out about half of them. And also discarded some of my mother's albums of trips that they took. I keep the few shots that feature them.

Here's my new idea, I've liberated a bill box from last weekend's soccer tournament and I'm going to sort the (boxes of) loose photos by approximate year....