There is a short window when everybody is still in touch
Most photographs of somebody are on other people’s phones. For a fortnight after a death those people are all reachable and expecting to be asked. Afterwards the same request finds a fraction of them.
In memory of
Margaret Ellen Shaw
1946 – 2026
Scan to add a photograph
A card for the order of service, or the table at the wake.
When the photographs actually arrive
A memorial album is not really about the day. It is about what reaches you before it and long after it.
- The fortnight before
This is the window. Everybody who knew them is in touch at once, messages are going round, and people are expecting to be asked for something. A request now reaches all of them.
What you doCreate the album and put the code on the order of service, or send the link to whoever is organising. Nothing has to be ready.
- The day itself
Nobody wants to be administering anything. People arrive, some of them have photographs on their phones from years ago, and most of them will not remember to do anything about it later.
What you doA card on the table at the wake is enough. If you want the photographs shown, the screen can run quietly with them.
- The weeks afterwards
This is when most of it actually arrives. People go through old phones, find one, and send it. That happens for months, in ones and twos, long after anybody would think to ask again.
What you doThe album stays open for a year, so those still land somewhere. That matters here more than at any other kind of event.
You decide what goes in the album
Two questions, and you can change your answer to either at any point.
What gets shared
Approval, if you want it
Turn it on and a photograph is visible to nobody at all until a family member has approved it. Not to anybody else who has the code, not on the screen, not in the album. You can leave it on permanently.
Hiding is not deleting
With approval off, anything already in the album can be hidden, and it disappears for everyone the moment you do it. It stays in your download. Nothing is destroyed by tidying.
Who can see it
It does not have to be visible
The guest gallery can be off. People can add photographs to the album without being able to browse it, and you can open it later or not at all.
No account for anyone
Nobody is asked to sign up, and there is nothing to unsubscribe from afterwards. Older relatives can use it, because there is nothing to install.
If you want the photographs shown
A screen at the wake can run the album as it fills. Somebody finds a photograph on their phone at the back of the room and it is on the wall a minute later, which is often how the first ones arrive.
It is off unless you turn it on, and it runs without a red dot, a counter or anything announcing itself. The live slideshow is the same feature the rest of the site describes; what changes here is that it starts quiet and stays quiet.
Some families would rather nothing was on a screen at all. That is also a setting.
Some memories are better heard than photographed
Photographs of somebody are everywhere. Recordings of the people who knew them, saying what they were like, are the thing nobody makes until it is too late to make it.
The audio guestbook records up to a minute from each person, from their own phone. At a memorial these tend to be what the family keeps: a story nobody else knew, in the voice of somebody who was there.
Voice messages · 21
Her brother John0:52 Sheila, next door0:38 The Whitakers1:00What happens to the album afterwards
The point of collecting the photographs is having them, so it matters what happens once the album stops filling.
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Download everything, at any time
Every photograph and video at full quality, the original file each person sent, not a compressed copy. You do not have to wait until the end to do it, and you can do it as many times as you like.
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A year to add, and a year after that to download
Two years on Plus. Contributions to a memorial album arrive slowly, which is why the window is a year rather than a weekend.
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Once it is downloaded it does not need us
The files go wherever you keep photographs. There is no account to keep, no subscription to remember and nothing that stops working if you never open the album again.
A shared album, not a memorial website
It is not an online obituary, a funeral service page, a permanent tribute site or a place to collect donations. It is one album and a code, which is all most families want and all this does.
The album is the same QR code photo album the rest of this site describes. What changes here is the settings it starts with, the way it is shared, and how long it stays open.
Questions, answered
How does a memorial photo album work?
You create the album and share its QR code or link. Anyone who has it can add photographs and videos from their phone, without an app and without an account. Everything collects in one album that belongs to the family, and you can download every original at full quality.
Is the album private?
Yes. It is reachable only by its code or its link, and it is not listed or indexed anywhere. You can also turn approval on, so nothing appears until a family member has seen it, and you can leave the guest gallery off entirely so people can contribute without browsing.
Can we use it at the funeral itself?
Yes, and a card on each table or a line on the order of service is the usual way. Some families prefer to send the link afterwards instead, when there is less going on. Both work; the album does not have to be used on the day.
What if someone adds something upsetting?
With approval on, nobody else ever sees it: it waits for a family member to approve or refuse it, and until then it is not in the album, not on the screen and not visible to anybody else. With approval off, you can hide it, and it disappears for everyone the moment you do. Hiding does not delete, so it stays in your download in case somebody later wants it. Only you and any co-host can do either.
Do older relatives need to be able to use an app?
No, and this is the part that matters most for a memorial. There is no app and no account. Pointing a phone camera at the code opens the page, and choosing a photograph is the same as attaching one to a message.
How long do we have?
A year to add photographs and a year after that to download them, or two years on Plus. Contributions to a memorial album tend to arrive slowly, so the album is built to stay open rather than to close after a weekend.
While people are still in touch
Create the album, share the code with whoever should have it, and let what arrives arrive.
Create an album