How to Preserve Physical Photos

My uncle has physical copies of photos that are more than 30 years old, that still look like new. I have copies of some of the photos that he has, but the colors have deteriorated so much that a lot of them are unrecognisable.

The photos are kept in albums inside plastic sleeves. What he does to preserve them is to take the photos out of their sleeves every few months and keep them outside for a few hours in a dry place. He makes sure his hands are clean and dry before he handles the photos.Then he puts the pictures back in the albums. He has done this diligently over the years.

It sounds like your copies were printed with less stable ink. I commend his commitment to preserving his photos but if they're stored in the right conditions, there's no need to remove them every few months to dry them out. If anything, exposing them to a few hours of sunlight repeatedly will only cause the colors to fade faster.