The Southern Illinoisan has a good article written by Gail Rissi Thomas on the basics of family photos and their preservation, on how important the materials involved are (such as what problems arise from certain materials, acidity, etc.) , as well as observations about how family photos and genealogy are intertwined. It mentions how many people are finally realizing that family photos don’t belong tucked away in a closet or the attic.
With the mounting interest in genealogy over the last 20 years, people are searching out those beautiful old photographs of ancestors, those they knew as children and those who were only the subject of stories told by their grandparents. They’ve come to treasure not only the fine old heirloom photographs, but the images they have collected themselves of their own weddings, their children and their grandchildren.
It used to be a very common thing to see hordes of family photos, all different sizes and differently framed, filling the top of a piano or buffet or lining the walls of a stairwell. Family photos were the main motif of decorating. They were conversation pieces. But as people began to look for a more trendy and chic look in decorating, the photos came down and disappeared into the attic. But decorating, like anything else, eventually evolves and comes full circle. It’s time to let the family out of the closet and put them up on the walls again.