You name it you can post your picture on it.

I told my aunty recently that she was the keeper of our family history photos. She holds all of the old pictures including ones of my great grandmother....and even better, she knows who everyone is in those pictures.

People don't take photos any more. Physical 'hold them in your hand' photos I mean. It's strange really because everyone snaps away, taking selfies, photos and videos and plonks them on social media but hardly anyone prints them out any more. We may do the odd one for a present or for a frame on the wall, but apart from that most photos are shared with everyone, not just those close to you. How different from years ago. 

When my grandparents were alive photos were really just taken on special occasions. You only have to take a look at a really old photo to see that everyone is posed stiff and upright. Even the children are unsmiling. It's probably because they had to stand and pose for so long due to the length of the photo exposure time. Not only that but if you wanted to be considered of a good class then you didn't smile. Only drunkards and the poorer classes lived ribald lives. Photography was relatively rare in the 19th century and it was usually a once in a lifetime experience for anyone having their photo taken. It was also expensive. So no smiles for anyone. You might find the odd picture with someone smiling, but it was probably an accident caught as the photo was taken rather than deliberately posed.

Today everyone's life is 'out there for all to see'. We laugh, smile, make faces, show off our new clothes, our meals, our pets. It's almost as if we need to show everyone we are having fun, living life to the full and everyone should envy us. People create web sites of their lives with the pictures, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Dropbox, Messenger, you name it you can post your picture on it. I confess to taking so many pictures of my cats that my drop box constantly needs emptying and my phone storage is almost full. My son tells me I should store everything in 'cloud'. Maybe I should do, but you know what? Sometimes I'd like to flick through an actual paper album rather than scroll through my phone. It's great that I can capture a moment so quickly, but actually there are some good reasons why having physical printed photos are a good idea. 

Visual aids help people with Alzheimer's and because of that having an album with photos in is a great way of stimulating their memory. I have made countess albums on line for my parents, creating photo books for them. Ones of their wedding, and life, through pictures which will hopefully help them in their twilight years. Pretty much everyone who has got married has got a special wedding album to flick through. There is nothing like actually looking at pictures in an album, but then I am a fan of books to read rather than kindles so it's natural I'd feel like that. Neil and I have also got a montage of family photos in frames on our sideboard. It's certainly a talking point when people visit. It's those precious moments dear to us that we print out…...not forgetting the labeling. Do not forget to write on the back, very lightly, who is in the photo, where it is, the date and whatever else will remind you later on when you look at them!

That brings me back to my auntie's photos, and for that matter all the fabulous black and white pictures my parents have. When we look through them I spend so much time asking who the people are, and now my parents are getting older they don't always remember. Before we know it the photos will simply be pictures of the past rather than a record of the past. So I'm making it my mission to label all the photos we have in the family. I've asked my aunty that if she ever wants to get rid of the photos that she will give them to me. I want to be the next history keeper of our family photos. Maybe you could be too? 

https://www.alzheimers.net/10-6-14-memories-photos/