Photographs--to bring or not to bring?

[Lenore]

Help!  I've been lurking around these *** for months, and THANKS, guys, you've been a fantastic help.  I'm leaving Boston on December 18 for Sing, yikes!, and I don't know whether to bring precious, somewhat historic photographs, like weddings,   children,etc.  Does the humidity damage them?  Would it be better to store them here?

[Paul N]

If your home here is fully air conned, it will pose no problem.  If you tend to, like most here, close up the house and night and crank up the A/C, the humidity and temperature change will cause some problems.  Pics behind glass can become permanently adhered to the glass.  Unmounted pics will tend to roll and sometimes mildew.

[AliB]

Personally I wouldn't take the risk.  Just bring a few (that can be replaced) but keep those precious, irreplaceable mementos at home.

[Rudesing]

Hey

I'd get them photocopied and bring the copies.  The quality is pretty good if you go to a photo shop.

[Iceman]

For a variety of reasons do not bring the original photos (including transit loss).  You can get reproductions made (often end up looking better), store the originals and bring those instead.

Too precious to mess with...

[Teddy]

Making copies of your photos is a good idea. You might also consider to have let them laminated at a photo shop. Might cost a few more bucks but then humidity etc. shouldn't be a problem for decades.

[Caroline]

What I did was put all the negatives in a safety deposit box back in home country and brought the photos with me - I like looking through my albums every now and then. I also take back negatives when I visit home country and put them with the others. At least then I know I have a chance to re-create most of them if ever necessary.

[Lenore]

Brilliant!  There's a color photocopy shop in town--will make copies.  Now why didn't I think of that?