50 Fascinating Images That You Probably Didn’t See In History Class (New Pics)

Clémence Scouten is a personal historian. She’s an expert when it comes to preserving family histories and legacies. As the founder of Memoirs And More, she has a wealth of experience in viewing, selecting, and organizing old photos and using them to tell a captivating story of how people once were—and are. Scouten is a firm believer in the power of photos.

“Photos are a great way to enter family history, like a window into history,” she told Bored Panda when we reached out to her. “We can see before we read. So even a small child can see pictures in an album or book and start to associate that with their family. Once that child gets older, they can read about the family and learn the details a photo can't convey.”

Photos are visual examples of our lives, and they tell the stories of our heritage, says Julie Kessler. She's the owner of a company called Picture This Organized. And spends endless hours helping families "organize their life treasures so they can share their life stories."

Scouten says that while it's important to preserve family history, not everyone wants to. And that's okay. "There's a lot of trauma some people want to leave behind, and we never want to force people to talk about that or be confronted with it," she explained.

Old family photographs can be particularly triggering. Looking at old photos reminds us of who we (and others) once were. “Someone might realize how very young they had been when they experienced a transformative event,” notes Psychology Today. “They might suddenly understand how vulnerable and innocent they had been.”

These reminders could trigger positive or negative emotions. They could change someone’s understanding of how their past played a part in who they are today. They could increase or decrease feelings of anger, guilt, or resentment. Photos—and the feelings associated with viewing them—could even prompt us to forgive. Or sometimes, fall in love all over again.

"There are many benefits to preserving our family history and knowing about other family members' successes and failures," Scouten told Bored Panda. "It helps us understand we are part of a structure (love it or hate it!) and that what we experience was probably experienced by someone relatively close to us. It is literally good for us."

Experts agree that looking at certain old photographs can be good for our mental health. According to Psychology Today, viewing images “associated with specific positive autobiographical memories increased positive mood and helped repair negative mood induced by a sad film clip.”