Family Photos - be sure to label them!

[Tonichelle]

Consider this a bit of a PSA - please please please make sure your family photos are labelled either on the back of the photo or in the album they're in. I'm going through my gparents' photo albums (all five bajillion of them) and we're have a hard time identifying people in them. My dad only knows the people up to the point of his gparents... and there are a lot of photos that are older than that. We don't have anyone on my gma's side to ask, and my gpa's mentally not all there so his memory is unreliable. Most of our family is far away so it's hard to get identifications.

So PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE take the time and label your photos. Do it for your grandchildren and great grandchildren. I am one of those crazy photo people that labels/captions everything so this is driving me insane! LOL

 

[el henry]

Consider this a bit of a PSA - please please please make sure your family photos are labelled either on the back of the photo or in the album they're in. I'm going through my gparents' photo albums (all five bajillion of them) and we're have a hard time identifying people in them. My dad only knows the people up to the point of his gparents... and there are a lot of photos that are older than that. We don't have anyone on my gma's side to ask, and my gpa's mentally not all there so his memory is unreliable. Most of our family is far away so it's hard to get identifications.

So PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE take the time and label your photos. Do it for your grandchildren and great grandchildren. I am one of those crazy photo people that labels/captions everything so this is driving me insane! LOL

Good point: and label them so strangers can understand them! With both my parents passed in 2013, we are just now going through the photos. One from the '20s or 30s, judging by the car, was labeled "Jack's two kids, my brother's two kids and me". If my great aunt were not still here, we would have no idea who any of these people were, and she only knew two of them.

Label intelligently!

 

[peg]

Even more importantly - print those darn photos!! So many people these days only have them in electronic format, and the technology 50 years from now probably won't be able to read them

 

[alebi]

You're totally right! I've just spent the last week re-ordering all my family's photos (aaahhhh the good old era when photos must be developed ) and I've found so many unknown faces, even from my (earlier) classrooms. There's a boy in particular I really can't understand who he's, I don't have any memory about him (ehm... maybe it's also the impending old-age ).

Another tip is to write the year and the place. I have tons of photos taken in beautiful sea places that I can't recognise (because I was 4 or 5 years old) and it's a pity, since I can't go there any more (or at least till I ask to my mother )


As we say in Italian, this thread cade a fagiolo

 

[Tonichelle]

Good point: and label them so strangers can understand them! With both my parents passed in 2013, we are just now going through the photos. One from the '20s or 30s, judging by the car, was labeled "Jack's two kids, my brother's two kids and me". If my great aunt were not still here, we would have no idea who any of these people were, and she only knew two of them.

Label intelligently!

And don't scribble! I can't read some of the captions, and neither can my mom because handwriting is so bad! ha ha

Even more importantly - print those darn photos!! So many people these days only have them in electronic format, and the technology 50 years from now probably won't be able to read them

That I don't have a problem with. I have photos printed waiting to be put in albums... but they are all labelled!

 

[CoyoteChris]

Interesting thread as my cousin sent me a pic of a photo from our family from circa 1950 and asked me if I recognized anyone (I didn't) and the photo wasn't labled.
Going forward, the problem actually now becomes worse. All I take is digital and I sort them on my computer and backups by year, then event, people, dogs, etc.
But when I die, who will care about my digital storage?
Since the common media now seems to be Facebook, where the pics are actually better labled, is there a way to pass on THOSE photos? There are of course ways if anyone cares.
But those that do care need to think about preservation of family "pics" NOW.
But perhaps the larger question is, "How many people still care?" Family history seems to be less and less relevant for many folk. Just an observation. And families are way more fragmented
anyway. No being judgmental....but look up how many kids are born out of wedlock....how many don't even know who one parent really is? How many people have multiple life partners?
With family trees looking more like lawns, what will happen to geneology in the future?

 

[Tonichelle]

Most computers have a way that you can label the photos with info. I have windows (I hate Apple) and you can "tag" the photo with names/places/whatever, as well as write a caption. easy way to organize photos digitally.