Do You Know Where Your Photos Are?

9/6/2026

Dark storm clouds over the Toronto skyline, illustrating the importance of protecting and backing up family photos.

Storm over Toronto, summer 2024. Photo by Faith Van Wart.

This past week’s powerful storm in Toronto and the GTA was another reminder of how quickly severe weather — and the damage it can cause — can happen.

It also made me think about a question I often ask people about their photos:

Do you actually know where all of your photos are?

If there were an emergency and you had to leave your home quickly, would you know where your family photos, albums and other media were located? Or are they scattered throughout the house — in the basement, on bookshelves, in drawers or in boxes you inherited years ago?

Of course, in a real emergency, people and pets come first. That’s exactly why organizing and protecting your photos before something happens is so important.

Organizing is also a form of protection

Professional organizers help people understand what they have, what matters and where things belong. Photos are no different.

Start by identifying where your photos and family media are stored. Pay particular attention to basements and attics, two of the riskiest places for irreplaceable photos and albums. Basements can be vulnerable to flooding and moisture, while attics can experience extreme heat, humidity and roof leaks.

The goal isn’t necessarily to put every photo into one box. It is to know what you have and where it is.

Make sure the original isn’t the only copy

September is Save Your Photos Month, making it a perfect time to think about what would happen if your original photos were damaged or lost.

Digitizing them gives you another copy. It doesn’t mean you have to get rid of the originals. It simply means the original is no longer the only copy.

And don’t forget your albums and scrapbooks.

Photo albums, scrapbooks and Creative Memories albums are often one of a kind. Along with photographs, they may contain handwritten captions, dates, names, memorabilia and stories. Once an album like that is damaged, it may be impossible to recreate.

Follow the 3-2-1 backup method

Once your photos are digitized, think about where those digital copies live.

As a photo manager, I recommend the 3-2-1 backup method:
3 copies of your files, stored on 2 different types of media, with 1 copy kept off-site.

That way, a fire, flood or other emergency affecting your home doesn’t also take every copy of your photos with it.

You don’t have to tackle an entire lifetime of photos at once. Start with the things that would be hardest - or impossible - to replace.

This Save Your Photos Month, perhaps begin with one simple question:

Do I know where my photos are — and if something happened to my home tomorrow, would my family’s photo history still exist?

A little organizing and preservation now can help protect memories that simply cannot be recreated later.

Learn More About Save Your Photos Month

Save Your Photos Month is an initiative of The Photo Managers, with resources to help you organize, digitize and protect your photographs and family stories.

Learn more:
https://thephotomanagers.ontralink.com/t?orid=202&opid=43
Affiliate disclosure: I may receive a commission from eligible purchases made through this link.

3 Comments

Pam Holland link

9/7/2026 11:54:13 am

This is such an important thing to tend to regularly and make sure that your precious photos are safe when and if unexpected events occur. I try to go through my digital photos once a month.
I just worked with a woman last weekend who had lost her home in the Marshall fires here in Colorado. Though we didn't discuss photos specifically, I can tell that she is still traumatized in dealing from the many losses that she suffered.

Faith Van Wart

9/7/2026 12:36:10 pm

Thank you for sharing this. Going through your digital photos once a month is such a great habit. The story of the woman you worked with is a heartbreaking reminder that the effects of events like the Marshall fires can last long after the immediate crisis has passed. It really reinforces how important it is to protect our photos and memories before the unexpected happens.

Linda Samuels link

9/7/2026 04:07:44 pm

This is such an important reminder. And with the weather systems changing rapidly, thinking about emergency situations (including your precious photos) is a good way to prepare.

While I know where my photos are (both physical and digital), they aren't all in one place. At this point, the last several decades of photos are mostly digital and backed up in several places. But the reality is that if something catastrophic happened, not all the images, albums, and memorabilia I've accumulated would be safe.