My grandfather passed away a few years ago. More recently I was given a photo album that my father found in his bedroom as he was sorting through his things. It was filled with photos, newspaper clippings and theater programs of me growing up through the years.
My grandfather was a man of few words and emotions, not known for his sentimentality. I had no idea that he was saving these things or that he had created such a lovely photo album to hold them all.
It was such a beautiful gift, not only to have this collection of memories, but know that they were special to him and he took the time and effort to compile them.
Such an intentional use of photos was an inspiration to me that gave me much happiness. It also triggered me to think about all the ways I use my photos and videos intentionally and how I can spread happiness to others in the process, instead of just allowing them to sit on my phone unused.
Yearly Photo Book
I’ve created a yearly photo book for our family the past five years. It has been one of the best uses of our photos. Stored prominently on a shelf in our living room, we frequently take them out to look through them. Extended family members who visit also will occasionally flip through them too.
I also create separate smaller photo books for vacations. This helps to keep the size of the yearly photo book more manageable.
The photo books are saved on the Shutterfly website. If we have a fire, flood or other extenuating circumstance that destroy the books, I could easily have them printed again.
Gifts
Every Christmas I gift a photo calendar to some family members. I also gift the grandparents a copy of the kids school photos for the year. These Aura picture frames also look like an incredible gift and way to use photos. Using Shutterfly you can turn your photos into anything…mugs, playing cards, puzzles. There are so many ways to creatively gift photos.
Photo Collages
Collages can be made the old fashion way with printed photos, glue and scissors or online with a photo service. I frame the collage and it’s a beautiful piece of art to decorate our home. I can then create copies of the collage to gift to others.
Photo Canvas
I have also had my photos printed on canvas and use this as artwork for my home.
Google Drive
A family member added us to a google drive folder where she uploads photos of her daughter and others who are added to the folder can do the same. I thought that was a fantastic way to share, organize and gather photos from others.
Blog or Social Media
I use my blog to organize our memories. It’s an easy format for me to go back and view later on and to share with extended family. An added benefit is I’ve been able to share my photos with a much larger group of people and perhaps inspire them in some way. I love to think that maybe someone stumbled upon a blog post about a camping trip, saw the beauty of the area we stayed and found their next perfect family vacation spot. And sometimes extra super cool things happen as a result of the blog, like National Geographic stumbles across a post and puts a photo in one of their books. Imagine if I had just allowed that photo to sit unused on my phone instead of sharing it with others.
A blog might not be for everyone, but maybe a private Instagram that you share with only a select few friends and family or a a facebook album could work for you. There are many ways to use social media to positively share images with others.
YouTube
YouTube helps me more intentionally access my videos. I create a very simple yearly movie (kind of like my photobook) using iMovie on my phone, then upload it to YouTube and set it as private (no one but me can view it) or unlisted (only people with the direct link can view), if I want other family members to be able to watch it. I do this with vacation videos also. These video are saved other places as well, but we are much more likely to actually watch them if they are easily accessed on YouTube vs just stored on an external hard drive.
Honoring my photos
When I browse through the photos I’ve taken on my phone, I try to remind myself the reason I took the photo to begin with. There was something about that moment that was so special I wanted to capture it forever. It was worth my time and energy to take out my phone and take a picture. Leaving that photo on my phone to just sit, unseen by anyone, is not honoring it or the original intention of the photo. It’s wasting my time and energy and cluttering up my life. Using the photo, displaying it for myself and sharing it with others is honoring that original intention. Just like my grandfather did with that photo album that was able to bring me happiness long after he was gone.
