Most of us have a stack of photographs from our past. Perhaps in albums, most likely in boxes or even the original envelopes you used to get them back from the photo store in. You may only have negatives of old photographs and these can be digitized with amazing scanners. And nowadays, digital photos are more likely the norm.
Gather Your Pictures
I took a few days to gather all my photos together and sort them. I made envelopes for:
- When I Was Young and Living at Home
- Single and on My Own
- Married, with Kids
Narrow the Scope
Once I had all those separated, I narrowed things down yet further in those three envelopes. Here are some ways I narrowed it down (there can be many more if you want):
- Years before Kindergarten
- Elementary school
- High school
- College and University
- Friends
- Pets
- Cars
- Homes
- Holidays
- Vacations
Become a Detective
Once you have your pictures sorted:
- Deal with only one topic at a time.
- Try to put the photos in chronological order by date.
- Where there was no date, look at your size, where you were and then try to sort it out best as you can.
Taking “Years Before Kindergarten” as an example, I lined up my pictures in the order I felt they should be in and studied each one carefully. Put on your detective hat and look for clues.
- Jot down who is in the picture (if you’re not sure, make a note on a post-it and put it on the back of the photo to check with other relatives later).
- Can you tell where the picture was taken?
- Can you tell when the picture was taken? Perhaps by season?
- Was there a specific event being documented?
Enjoy the Experience
From each photo, or even group of photos, you can tell something about that time. It may be mundane and boring to you, but it was what was happening at that time of your life.
Perhaps you can tell something from a piece of clothing. “I remember that Aunt Darlene gave me that necklace for my 16th birthday!” “Those pants were all the style then and I remember begging my mother to buy me a pair so I wouldn’t feel left out.”
Pictures can evoke not only the memories of the event but also the feelings that went with them. Sometimes wonderful memories, other times not so much. If you don’t want to deal with a specific memory, put it aside for now. You can go back later or not at all.
Don’t forget, you can ask your parents or other relatives if they have pictures of you throughout your life. Most likely your parents will have a ton and you may get lucky.
My Dad loved to take pictures, and he had them developed as slides. Once in a while he would set up the slide projector, wrestle with the screen and the metal rods that held it in place, put it precariously on a chair and dim the lights.
It was like going to a silent movie all about your own family! I remember how we had to project the pictures onto the wall one time when the screen broke and we all looked like giants. I remember the clicking sound of the slides being moved along in the carousel that held them. I remember the smell of the old projector as we sat there for hours, usually past bedtime, laughing and “remembering when”.
Pictures do speak a thousand words!
Your Turn:
- Gather your photos in one place.
- Separate them in whichever way you feel suits your needs.
- Narrow them even further to make the job easier.
- Pick a batch and study each photo and make any notes you can about the contents.
- Add this information to your Timeline.
- Rinse and repeat!