Millions of old analogue photos are sitting in storage. Digitising them can unlock countless memories

This August 2023 photo shows one of the boxes of photographic slides that AP Technology Writer Michael Liedtke inherited from his father, James. Old photos can be a treasure that keeps on giving — if you can get them out of boxes and drawers and get at them. That’s where digitization comes in. — AP

This may seem like a sad story because it begins with a boy with few memories of his father, who died when he was seven years old. It’s why Mitch Goldstone cherishes his only picture with his dad – a snapshot at Disneyland taken during the late 1960s, when the concept of people reflexively reaching for smartphone cameras in their pockets could only happen in Tomorrowland.

But this story, and the personal stories that follow, aren’t sad at all. And a half-century later and more, Goldstone has done something with that memory.