Welcome to Volume 20 of Clutter Tales, a series where we tell the stories of our lives through our clutter. Today’s Clutter Tale is one of mine and it was inspired by a set of film negatives discovered during one of my decluttering sprees. It made me realize that, even in our digital age, we still need printed photos to preserve memories and family history for future generations.

Clutter Tale 20 – Let’s revive printed photos

I’ve always been an avid photographer so I suppose it was inevitable that I’d stumble upon some film negatives at some point in my decluttering challenge. When I did, it made me realize how much digital photography has changed the world. But that convenience comes at a price. Are we risking losing our family history because no-one prints photos any more?

I found this set of negatives when I decluttered my night table drawers. They were tucked inside a small photo album. Seeing them brought back so many memories. Let’s look back.

When pictures were rare and precious

In the days before digital photography, pictures were rare and precious. When you were planning a trip or attending a big event, one of the first things you had to do was make sure you had enough film. You’d never want to risk getting a perfect shot because you ran out of film.

One of the things I remember my parents saying was “Don’t waste film on that!” It seems so funny now that we had to limit the number of pictures we took because every picture had a cost associated with it—the cost of film, the cost of printing, the risk of running out of film. In those days, we were selective about the pictures we took.

Waiting and anticipation

After we used up a roll of film, we had to take it somewhere to be developed and printed.

Most grocery stores and department stores offered film developing services, but one of the iconic symbols of the age before digital photography was the Fotomat booth. Fotomat ran small kiosks in mall parking lots, and all they did was sell and develop film.

At one time, it took a week or more to get your pictures back after you dropped off your film. As technology advanced, most stores offered one-hour film developing. You could drop off your film, do your shopping, and pick it up before you left the store. How convenient!

Oh…the excitement!

I remember how exciting it was to open up that envelope and look at my pictures. The anticipation usually got the better of me, and I ripped open the envelope and had a quick look before leaving the store. Then when I got home, I’d sit down and really take the time to look at each photo.

Opening that envelope was a chance to relive the memories of that vacation, party or special occasion. Sometimes, that excitement turned to disappointment when that perfect shot was ruined because someone blinked at the wrong moment, or your thumb got in the way.

Part of the fun was showing your pictures to your family and friends. We regularly passed around pictures at family gatherings and parties and laughed as we relived the memories.

Now, all this probably sounds horribly inconvenient to the younger people reading this. In many ways, it was inconvenient, but in others it was fun and exciting. We truly valued those photos and the memories they provided.

Fast forward to the digital age

We got our first digital camera in 2003, just after our daughter Colleen was born. In the history of the world, it’s really not that long ago. The convenience of digital photography would change pictures forever. It also meant the end of places like Fotomat, and once-iconic companies like Kodak who didn’t adapt to the new reality.

In the world of digital photography where everyone has a smart-phone attached to the palm of their hand 24 hours a day, we take photos for granted. I fear that complacency is putting us at risk of losing our memories.

For years after we got our first digital camera, I continued to print pictures and put them in albums or scrapbooks. Years ago, when showing some printed photos to my father-in-law, he commented that I was one of the few people who printed pictures since everyone got those “new-fangled cameras”. He loved to look at photos. That comment was an important reminder of the value of pictures in preserving our family history.

Over the years, I’ve stopped printing pictures. It’s not easy to print photos these days. When I wanted to print Colleen’s graduation pictures last year, I found the photo services in grocery and department stores have disappeared. If you want printed pictures, you have to upload them on a website and wait for them to arrive in the mail. It feels oddly like the old Fotomat days.

The cost of convenience

Sadly, most digital photos are “Out of sight. Out of mind.”

You might argue that we have even more pictures and memories, because digital photography doesn’t limit the number of pictures we can take. But, how many of us take the time to organize and preserve those photos? When was the last time you gathered your family around the computer to look through your digital photos just for fun? What happens if you lose your phone, or your computer crashes? And, at the risk of sounding morbid, what will happen to those photos when you die?

I’m guilty of this too, although I do organize my pictures in digital folders by year and month, and label the folders to make it easy to find pictures of specific places and events. (For more tips on organizing and preserving your digital photos, check out this post.)

Although I don’t scrapbook any more, it breaks my heart when I hear of people throwing out old photo albums and pictures when decluttering. I have dozens of photo albums and I wouldn’t dream of getting rid of them. My daughters love looking at their scrapbooks because they bring back so many memories. I’ll never regret the hours I spent putting those books together. When I retire, I’ll probably take the time to capture and share more memories, although it may be in digital albums instead of physical ones.

Keep your family memories and history alive. Take the time to print a few pictures, write dates and locations on the back, and put them in a box or album. Your loved ones will be glad you did!

I hope you enjoyed this installment of Clutter Tales. If you’d like to write a guest post for Clutter Tales, please get in touch. I’d love to give you the opportunity to properly thank your clutter by sharing its story too!

Do you ever print pictures? If you don’t, how do you preserve your memories? Tell me your thoughts below.