Customer Reviews

Preserving Your Family Photographs: How to Organize, Present, and Restore Your Precious Family Images

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For me, studying old photos is one of the more fascinating aspects of family research, even when I'm not related to any of the people whose faces appear. The military uniforms, hats, parlor furniture, automobiles, urban scenes, and especially the faces and their expressions, are like a kind of time travel, allowing you to peer back into someone's past. Taylor's previous book, _Uncovering Your Ancestry Through Family Photographs,_ investigated that process. But how to protect the photos you already have tucked away in albums have so future family members will get the same pleasure (and information) from them? And how to rehabilitate those you discover to whom the years and the elements have not been kind? This time, the author outlines the steps you can take to see that your photographs have the best chance of survival and describes the methods conservators and restoration experts follow when the task becomes too much for you. She also guides you through the process of creating a meaningful scrapbook of archival quality, discusses the use of computer enhancement and electronic archives, and points out the legal aspects of posting photographs on a web site. Most of the chapters end with checklists and answers to frequently-asked questions, and there are many sidebars and brief marginal comments regarding further reading and useful Internet resources on the subject. Keeping in mind that the technical aspects of photographic restoration and preservation continue to evolve rapidly, this is an excellent beginner's guide and reference handbook.

Taylor may give readers a good place to start in their efforts to preserve family photographs, but offers information that is both contradictory and vague.

She gives a basic explanation of the "enemies" your photographs are facing, even breaking down information on particular types of photographs, tintypes, Polaroids, etc. But does not bother defining some basic terms in the glossary such as lignin. Nor are many of her suggestions for which supplies are appropriate specific enough. Eg., what kind of brush should I use to clean photos? I know that Nylon brushes are probably not soft enough for treasured photos. Even worse she says polyethylene is a bad material to store your photos in, but a few pages later suggests using polyethylene freezer bags for freezer storage of items.

Taylor includes lengthy lists of resources for, and more information on preservation. But some of the web addresses she lists no longer exist.

While she has some good suggestions for long-term storage of photo collections, I would not recommend this book to anyone trying to learn about photographic preservation.

Mama won't take your Kodachrome away, it is time and the elements which are attacking your treasured family photographs. Your Polaroid snapshots are fading as you read this. Those "magnetic" photo albums with the adhesive pages are gassing your family pictures to crumbs. Your digital images may not be viewable by your great grandchildren. But don't give up hope - take action. Maureen Taylor's "Preserving Your Family Photographs" tells you how to take charge and protect your family's photographic history. "Preserving Your Family Photographs" shows you how taking some simple steps now will slow down the aging process of your photographs. And its doesn't require a chemistry set. The book further discusses how and when to choose a professional conservator, concerns about digital photography, how to organize your collection, and even how to safely place your treasures in a scrapbook. This book takes up where "Uncovering Your Ancestry Through Family Photographs" leaves off. After you've identified your family photographs, "Preserving Your Family Photographs" tells you how to keep them for generations to come.

Since I love photos old and young, I really enjoyed this book. It is important that we save what we have regardless of importance at this moment. I believe this book is a good way to learn how to handle our photos carefully so our descendants will have the joy to go through our photos.

Does an excellent job of organizing and establishing time lines for photos. Very glad to find a copy.

Good overall book on keeping, organization, and presentation of the various types of family photos. Easy to read, and good reference listing at the back of the book for more indepth help.