photo archiving

I've been gradually archiving photos from my childhood into digital format. Already some of the paper photos have discoloured; I figure digitizing them will keep them accessible for longer.

The photo above is of my brother. When I see photos like this, I find myself wondering what Jim would think of all the technology developments of recent years; a great deal has happened since he and Diane died in '93, and he was always a technonerdboy. And then I wonder what my nieces and nephews will think of this decade when they're my age.

Some years ago, my brother-in-law joked to his daughter (my niece was around 6 or 7, I think): "You sound like a broken record." Her reply: "What's a record?"

:-D

Jeff and I have many, many boxes of photos that we haven't looked at in years. We're going to pick a weekend this winter where we'll go through all the boxes and ruthlessly purge, archiving the rest in photo albums. We plan to digitize a bunch. I've always found it INCREDIBLY difficult to throw out photos, especially photos of people I know I'll never see again.

Sometimes I'll go through an old photo album because I need a good cry (does that make sense to anyone?) or revisit a happy event, or because I'm looking for good blackmail material. ;-) I love how photos can capture a moment so perfectly...I often find photos better than videos for this sort of thing. I also like looking at other people's photos because they say a lot about the photographer in the choice of subjects and moments.

Photo below: In Algonquin Park, I think. My sister Ruth is standing. I'm sitting on the rock beside my brother, pointing something out. Mom's probably getting out a snack or picnic lunch. My Dad took this photo.



Rand and Erin arrive today for a weekend visit, yay!

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