Your Photo Album Faces
The Photographic Emergency of the Century!
Copyright © 2000 Luis Arellano, III. All rights reserved.
Revised: February 06, 2008 11:04
Information has appeared in print suggesting that images on some types of film and paper commonly used in the 1950's and thereabouts are slowly and inexorably fading. It is conceivable that most such images will totally disappear by the end of the current century. Many Polaroid™ photos I took in the late 1970's are already headed that way, too. Even images on Kodachrome,™ long trusted for its stability, are color shifting with time. Digital transfer appears to be the best solution.
Digital images are made up of binary numbers. Once you digitize an image, the color and shadings will be permanently set using known references to established international standards. Your paper and film images are mere traces of chemicals that can and do deteriorate with age.
For maximum life, the original photos and negatives must be stored in a stable, cool environment. You can find recommendations on this in various places on the Internet.
Since you asked, I urgently recommend that you get your entire photo collection out and scan every image into a computer. If there is information written on the back, scan that, too. Then transfer it all onto CD-R disks, and make backup copies for your relatives to store. You can do it yourself with an affordable scanner and a decent PC with a CD-R drive, or pay a student or professional photo shop to do it for you.
(It
could be a daunting project, but while you are at it, try to ensure that every person and place is identified. Of course, you know who most of
them are now, but your lack of diligence will result in unidentified photos
that will have little meaning later on. It can cause arguments and
invalidation of the photos for historical use. This would make a good
excuse to get the family together for a great time. If you do, be sure to
have one or more video cameras on hand, because there will be stories to
record.)
While
it's on your mind, see my remarks about
Care and Preservation of Audio and Videotapes