Sam Rintoul, professional archivist and founder of Mnemosyne Digital shares her top six *Do’s* and *Do Not’s* when it comes to working with and storing your old family photos!

Do – Brief Recordkeeping

Take the minute to write the relevant information on the back of the photograph or to add the metadata in the details section of your digital photograph. This does not have to be extensive, keep it short, sweet and to the point. You may know the who/what/when/where/why right now, but what about in 30-50 years? Think about those details for the person who will be inheriting your collection and wishing they knew the names or locations. Future-you will be grateful that past-you took those few moments to jot anything down to provide context and jog those memories.

Do – Quality Checks

Whether you scrapbook or use photograph albums or store all the photographs in envelopes or boxes, materials matter. Unless the materials are archival quality, the paper used to print, attach or contain the photographs typically contains properties such as lignin which leads to acidity over time. Take a piece of paper and tear a piece off anywhere. Those tiny and frayed fibrous edges that you just created? Regardless of what the material was that created the paper, the cellulose in those fibers is what is going to eventually break down into what is known as lignin which is acidic. Think of newspaper clippings that yellowed with age or were extremely brittle. When you find archival quality materials that say “lignin free” and “buffered” it means that the lignin has already been removed and that there is a layer added to reduce the pH which then reduces the potential of acidity.

Do – Think About How You Handle Photographs

All photographs have emulsion layers. Essentially, an emulsion layer is a thin, light-sensitive layer that captures an image when exposed to light. If we touch the face of a photograph, the natural oils and salts in our skin can leave residue behind as shiny spots and smudges, or cause reactions with the emulsion layer or the backing which can lead to discoloration, fading and degradation. Many of you may have older photographs, maybe even tintypes or daguerreotypes. These have a fragility to them and other chemical compositions that modern photographs do not possess. When handling any photographs, regardless of age, if you do not have any gloves handy, try to hold the photographs only by the edges or let them rest flat on your hand. If you do wear gloves, nitrile (or similar) is the best for photographs. Cotton gloves can impede movement and catch on the edges as well as cause loose fibers and dust to transfer from the gloves to the photographs. If you know you will be handling photographs with your hands, washing your hands thoroughly right beforehand will help remove any excess oil.

Do Not – Underestimate Temperature

Do not underestimate the role temperature can play in wreaking havoc on your photograph collection. Take a moment to think about how/where you store your photograph collection. Many times, photographs are in uninsulated attics, basements or storage units so it is a constant swing of extreme temperatures, cold to hot and back to cold year after year. Heat causes things to expand and cold to contract thus affecting things on a molecular level. Depending on the climate where you live (and other factors such as moisture), this can lead to different and varying forms of damage such as warping, brittleness, even mold. Keeping the photographs in an insulated, temperature-controlled area will lead to max long-term stability for your collection.

Do Not – Treat Your Photographs as if an Office Supply Store Aisle Exploded All Over Them

Talk to any archivist and the bane of their existence are photographs and documents that have been taped, stapled, paper clipped, pinned, stickied, glued, rubber banded, written on, laminated, decorated, etc. Most of the materials that are of varying kinds of metal eventually lead to rust which will affect the emulsification, and the varying types of tape and glue generally are acidic and so will begin to eventually break down and if the tape is removed, chances are it has left a residue behind. However if, for example, scrapbooking is your jam, more power to you and a simple suggestion is to consider investing in two copies of the photographs that you include in the scrapbook. That way, one copy remains fresh and free of all potential holes, rust, residue, tape and laminating and then you can do whatever you would like to the other copy.

Do Not – Store Photographs on the Ground

Unfortunately, storing boxes of photographs on the ground is an all too common occurrence. Long term moisture absorption, bugs, dust, mice, they all can be issues in their own way but all of that pales in comparison to the threat of flooding. Be it from a natural occurrence or the sprinklers being activated, standing water can easily ruin a photographic collection in a very short amount of time. Even if the shelf is not very high off the ground, the guaranteed benefits far outweigh the cons of not elevating the collection at all.

Conclusion

Above all, do not forget to have fun and be in the moment. Collecting and preserving family/chosen-family/friends memories should be an enjoyable experience. When it comes to preservation, something is better than nothing and any step forward, no matter how small, is still a step in the right direction. So have fun and go preserve some photographs! Just remember, no matter how much or how little you can do, preservation here and now is far more cost effective for you than conservation and restoration work will be in the future.

More about Sam:
“My path to becoming an archivist began back in 2011 when I volunteered in the Archives at my local community college for a research project and I was hooked. I have always loved history but for me, it is the personal touches and imagining the life connected to that item that drew me in and fed the love. When standing in the Archives, instead of just reading about history on the pages of books, I could touch pieces of history and be a part of continuing the story. Volunteering at my community college turned into Independent Study classes and work-study opportunities in the Archives and independent contractor work on grant projects at the local museum as an undergraduate student and finally, after completing my Master’s degree in Archival and Records Administration, I began my own Digital Archiving business two years ago this last April. This journey has not been without significant challenges, and I would not be where I am today without the love and support of my partner (who, incidentally, was the other volunteer on that research project in the community college archives). It is because of those challenges that I have come as far as I have today and it is in working with my clients, in learning who they are and essentially touching their memories while I digitize their life stories, that I play a small part in preserving the past for the future.”

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