What is a Photo Organiser?
Why you might need a photo organiser?
In addition to general decluttering, I also offer photo organising services. Most people have some idea of what decluttering means, but what is photo organising? What does it involve? Read on to find out.
According to the Guardian newspaper, in 2014, Americans took more photographs every two minutes than were taken worldwide in the entire 19th century. In 2021 humans took 1.4 trillion photos across the globe.
Before the advent of digital photography, most of us took far fewer photos, roles of film came in 24 or 36, and one would not carry a camera around everywhere.
While it is fantastic that we have a camera in our pocket that allows us to take endless photos, this also has pitfalls.
With so many photos taken, how can we wade through the clutter and find the good from the bad?
Where did I save that photo of my cat playing with that ball again? Was it Facebook, Instagram or my external hard drive?
When you upgraded your device, did you back up your photos to the cloud or a hard drive? Or did you leave them on the old phone, never to look at them again?
Would we like to do something with our photos but have too many to print them all?
Perhaps we have old prints from our parents, grandparents or ourselves as a child that we would like to show off on Facebook but don’t know how?
The above demonstrates why some of us might need the help of a professional photo organiser.
What is a photo organiser?
So, in short, a photo organiser is a person that helps individuals tidy up their photo collection so that they can find any photo easily to look at it, display or share with others.
Below I will outline in a bit more detail the many varied things photo organisers do.
What do photo organisers do?
One job of a photo organiser is sorting photos into recognisable categories, often by date or subject. After completion, the owner can locate any image they want quickly. Holiday snaps from the Denmark vacation will be in one spot; holiday snaps from Israel will be in another. Photo organisers will have placed photos of you at university between photos of you as a child and you on your wedding day. There are, of course, other ways to sort photos, but chronologically and thematic are the most popular ones.
Another job of a photo organiser is to rehouse photos into archival acid-free photo boxes or folders. This ensures the long-term preservation of images and a more uniform photo collection. Photo albums bought in the past are often unsuitable for storing photos long term as the materials may cause damage. A particular culprit is the magnetic photo album of the 80s. Further, many photo albums, while they look pretty, are bulky and take up more space than storage in archival boxes.
Many photo organisers also offer scanning services so you can digitally save old photos, slides or negatives and share them on social media. This work is time-consuming, a tad tedious and requires specialist equipment, so hiring a professional makes sense. Your mobile phone scanning app may be okay for the odd receipt or printed document; it won’t do for photos. Photo scanners vary in price but are not worth the investment if not used frequently.
Photo organisers also look after your digital photos. They amalgamate pictures from multiple devices into one location. They add metadata and captions to your images so you can find them easily. Harvard Law School defines Metadata as follows:
Metadata is information stored within a document that is not evident by just looking at the file. It is an electronic “fingerprint” that automatically adds identifying characteristics, such as the creator or author of the file, the name of individuals who have accessed or edited the file, the location from which the file was accessed, and the amount of time spent editing the file. In addition to data that is automatically added to a document, there is user-introduced metadata, such as tracked changes, versions, hidden text and embedded objects.
Captions are simply words that describe your photo. So, a picture of you, your kids and your dog on the beach in Hawaii might contain the words: Vacation, holiday, Hawaii, beach, children, kids, dog, pet, family name of kids, and name of the dog. If in 5 years you want to look for photos of your dog, search for dog and the name of your dog, and all relevant images come up.
Photo organisers prune your photo collection and ensure that blurry, duplicate or poorly composed photos are taken out. Photo Organisers will only suggest what to discard, never actually destroy or delete anything. The final decision is always yours. But having fewer photos ensures that you might look at them and show them to others rather. You won’t waste time finding the one amongst all screenshots and duplicates of yesterday’s dinner.
Photo organisers also help create photo books, slide shows or other curation of photos. Presenting curated images is an excellent way to show off your lovely pictures and create a story.
Photo organisers also teach clients how to use photo organising software, cameras and other equipment to enable clients to work by themselves in the future.
The Photo Managers
Photo organisers are connected with each other in the Photo Managers, a trade association set up by Cathi Nelson in 2009. The Photo Managers offer training CPD courses, seminars and zoom calls where we chat with each other about our business. But the photo managers also provide help and advice to ordinary people. They have a directory of professional organisers in your local area.
The Photo Managers is a community of professionals who are passionate about helping their clients manage photo collections and tell their stories. Whether you need help with organising, scanning, converting old media, or creative ways to share, we can help!
Conclusion
So, if you need help with your photos, why not email me, and I’ll talk through how I can help?
If you want to get further ideas on getting organised and more productive, please check out my other posts here.
trabantbettina
Bettina Anna Trabant, Founder of Life Organised, your professional organising and decluttering service in East London. Eco-conscious minimalist and avid tea drinker,