The Fine Art of Family Magazine

“I have a humungous box of photographs that I’ve been meaning to put into albums, but never have the time. What else can I do with them? ” — C. B., Fairfield, CT

Whenever my clients are feeling overwhelmed about piles of photos, I tell them to divide and conquer. Simply organize them in colorful shoeboxes that you can later store under a bed or in a closet, chest or vintage suitcase.

If you prefer to display your photos, you can also neatly stack these beautiful boxes in a corner of the family room for your guests or kids to sift through at their leisure. Here’s all you need to do.

BUY THE BOXES You can find lots of inexpensive colorful options at B&H or The Container Store. If you prefer to shop online, I personally love Light Impressions, a web-based photography store. Make sure the boxes (and anything that comes in contact with the images, like glue or tape) are acid-free to help preserve the photos in their original state for a long time.

PICK A TOPIC Start with a subject that you know you will generate the most photographs, like vacation, pets, holidays, or school. Keep it broad and avoid going by year, which will just give you a headache. If you’ve got kids (and two decades’ worth of photos, like I do), I would suggest breaking it down by child and then the stages of their lives, like infant, toddler, and so on.

EDIT YOUR PHOTOS Before tossing photos in a shoebox, think of it as creating a Flickr slideshow that you plan to email to 50 of your closest family and friends. What special moments would you like to share with them? This approach will help whittle down the pack to fit in its new pretty rectangular home. Photocopy one of these great shots and staple it to the outside of the box. It’ll serve as a label, so you can find and share particular memories in an instant.

Ask me a question: editors@thefineartoffamily.com

Published on October 10, 2009

Tags: Ask Monica, Capturing, Photography