Photobooks are a great idea for any gift, and yet, they seem to be dying out. With us all posting our memories to social media to be passively liked and swiped past, we have forgotten the art of enjoying an art form that is centuries old.
So, we’re aiming to bring that into our life. Read on to find out why a photobook is the best gift you can give the ones you love.
It’s a Personal Experience
After a few years, it gets increasingly difficult to find personal gifts for the special people in your life. Sure, you could get them something practical – after all, there comes a certain point in your life where you start to realize the value of socks for Christmas – but, every once in a while, it’s much more rewarding to find something that will come totally unexpected, and catch them off-guard (in a good way, of course).
The great thing about a photo album as a gift is that it is personal to the receiver of the gift. Personalized gifts are usually reduced to any other gift with an extra hefty price to have their name engraved on it, but photo albums are built from the ground up to be centered around the person you are giving a gift to.
It makes for a highly personal experience that they aren’t likely to forget anytime soon. And, whether the receiver is your mother, father, sister, friend, partner, or child, it’s the perfect way to celebrate the bond the two of you share, and the moments you have shared together over the years.
They Create a Display
Important photos should still make it into the real world. We want to keep the ones we love close, and therefore they shouldn’t be hidden behind a locked, black screen. We take so many photos every day – and not all of them are meaningful – and that means that it only takes a week or so for that special, once-in-a-lifetime photo to be buried under hundreds of near-identical snaps of an aesthetic doughnut, or a cat we found particularly cute.
On top of that, decorating your home with photos of your loved ones and memories will create a very feel-good environment that doesn’t have an alternative online.
A photo album sitting on a table nearby will invite visitors to have a flick through to take part in all your memories and hear all your stories, on top of offering something beautiful to place as a decoration. More than any other title, a photobook is the ultimate ‘coffee table book’, and it’s one of the best ways of personalizing a space.
If you’d like something physical and beautiful to display your memories, you can create your own My Photo Album online with MySocialBook.com.
They Give You a Chance to Slow Down
Whether we like to admit it or not, posting your photos to your social media is a passive activity. We rarely think of our photos again – and, at times, we even struggle to recall them – instead of thinking about how to make the next ones better. There is too much content on the internet to pay attention to even our own memories.
Photo albums allow us to slow down and absorb the meaning behind them. People who remember the days before the internet can probably remember their physical photos more than they do their newer digital photos. A big part of that will be because we have to physically pull out the photos rather than scrolling past them in a sea of other photos.
You never know when the moment will come when you decide to take a photo book from the shelf and flip through it once again. Having them there means that those spontaneous moments – moments where you find yourself in the mood for reminiscing and celebrating the past – will always have an outlet.
They Create a Communal Experience
One of the biggest issues with keeping your photos only to your phone is that it can be a lonely experience. As much as social media tries, sharing photos online doesn’t get you the same feelings and validation of feelings as sharing your photos with a loved one in person. There is only so much a “like” can do, and it doesn’t compare to sharing your experiences with someone in person.
When you open your photo album, you’ll be able to expand on the photos themselves. Every photo is a story to tell and nostalgia to share, whether you’re looking at childhood photos, baby photos, wedding photos, or holiday photos.
Most of us will have fond memories of flipping through the family photo albums, attaching faces to names, remembering moments we were too young or too distracted to remember in perfect detail. It’s a rite of passage and one that we continue to go through as the year’s pass.
They Are the Narrative
It’s easy to get caught up in the present moment and to find yourself constantly focused on the next day, the next week, month, year, or decade. These days, we’re all moving through life so quickly that it’s often easier to be looking ahead, rather than enjoying the present moment or feeling good about the things that have just passed us by.
Regularly curating all your recent photos into a photo book means that you’re keeping yourself involved with your life’s story. As your bookshelf fills with volumes – each one a celebration of a different stage of your life – you will be able to take stock, and see how many wonderful moments your life is really made from.
In essence, creating photo books – rather than leaving all your photos in the digital world – means making the most of the memories that you spend your life gathering together and experiencing. It’s a chance to share the past with your loved ones, and to make sure that, whatever stage you’re at in life, there’s always a ready-made opportunity to dip back, and enjoy what came before.
