The archival photography can be understood in several aspects. On the one hand, as the rules of creating photography in archival standards recognized by various institutions – preparing and signing the edition, use of relevant archival materials, producing the certificate of authenticity. On the other hand, as the proper handling of photographs treated as archival – archiving and digitizing photos, publishing on the Internet, using archives in artistic creation. Archival photography is really interesting for artists in both these aspects.

Family photo albums constitute an element of the family ritual, they help transmit the memorial from generation to generation and they shape the memory of each family. However, it may happen that we are in possession of photos that we know nothing about. What is the history of these photos – who is in the picture, where and when was the picture taken? Are family photographs without the history of their owners of any importance for our personal identity? How do other people’s memories affect our own ones? It is really interesting how in this case the role of family photography changes!