Today’s blog post should be considered a public service notice. Do not place your treasured family photos of today or yesteryear in self adhesive albums. Just don’t do it, unless you would like to eventually hire me to delicately and some times unsuccessfully remove them and charge you oodles of money for doing so.
These drugstore album staples of my youth are determined to destroy your photographic memories one shot at a time. The more expensive magnetic ones are marketed as a better quality and less damaging option because they lack the ‘self stick’ technology however, the point of these album pages is to hold the photos in place without use of additional tape or glue. Phooey.
Over time, the self adhesive forms a permanent bond with the photo and the additional pressure applied while stacked or standing in a bookshelf will act as a catalyst in the fusing of the paper to the page. Rising temperature also plays an integral role in the inability to separate the image from the album. The opposite can also be problematic as well – if the adhesive is not tacky enough to hold the photo in place the likelihood of slippage and eventual loss of the print is guaranteed.
Although some very high-end purveyors of fine leather albums provide this type of album, one should not fall prey to the lure of easy and fast photo archiving. Proper care and application of photo presentation takes time and patience. If you have neither of these, but desire a polished and accomplished looking photo library, well then you should probably call me.
Safe guarding your memories,
xxoo.
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