Why photos gifts can be the most meaningful thing you can give this Valentine’s Day

When Valentine’s Day comes around, it can be tempting to resort to cliché. Who doesn’t love champagne, designer fragrance or a sparkly parcel accompanied by red roses and balloons? In fact, research into couples’ gift giving reveals something surprising. Expensive material purchases are not the best bet if you’re hoping to deepen your partnership. So-called “experiential” gifts have a much more beneficial impact. Anything that gives the recipient cherished memories to look back on has a longer-lasting, positive effect – regardless of the cost.

Photo-related gifts are a great example of this type of Valentine’s present because they are beautifully designed physical objects imbued with cherished memories. The benefits of experiential gifts apply to friendships as well, so a photo present would be equally good for a friend you want to treat this Galentine’s Day. Psychologists have noted that when you give someone this type of token, they experience tender emotions each time they revisit the item – photos are literally the gift that keeps on giving.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise – we live in a world where time and attention are regarded as a scarce and valuable commodity. Photos are a meaningful way of celebrating your connection while allowing you to express what the other person means to you in a creative way. For example, you might choose to gift your partner a curated box of Polaroid-style prints that capture the two of you enjoying happy times together. Or if you’ve shared a particularly momentous trip or event together recently, a gallery of photo tiles would be a great gesture to keep the memories alive.

Part of the joy of creating any photo gift is in gathering and choosing the images. I find that the best way to do this is to make an album on your device to store all the potential pictures. Once you can see them in one place, it’s much easier to identify the ones you like best and make a final selection. It’s a good idea to choose similar types of images; look for matching colours or types of location for example. Don’t panic if nothing seems to tie together though. My top tip in that case is to convert all the pictures to black and white. (The Silvertone filter on iOS creates great classic tones, but any monochrome filter immediately adds a classic vibe.)

If you’re still unsure about which images to select, opt for photos of the early days of your relationship (whether you are a new or long established couple). Research into “firsties” revealed that looking at pictures of the early days of your romance – first dates, first trips away together and other momentous turning points when you were getting together – has a positive effect. In another study, psychologists found that looking at any photo of your partner caused a person to feel more in love and more satisfied with their relationship. It was reported to boost their sense of attachment and infatuation – and by comparison, thinking about the other person’s positive qualities did not have the same impact.

A great way of making the most of this effect is to create a “Book of Us” – a visual celebration of your relationship in photo book form. It’s a beautiful romantic gesture that is worth the effort. Photo books require a minimum of 20 pictures, but if you want to go all out you could feature more than 100! The first thing to do if you want to create a book is to decide on a main theme. Sometimes, organising images chronologically is easiest. You might start with when you first met and progress through special times such as a romantic weekend away, the first time you met their family or previous Valentine’s Days or birthday celebrations. Landmark relationship moments such as surprise trips, proposals and weddings are also fantastic themes. Consider it like an analogue highlight reel that tells the story of your relationship.

But how you create the book entirely depends on the type of people you are. You could take a quirky approach and tailor it according to your partner’s passions and interests. One friend of mine made a photo book of moments from the Celtic FC matches her other half had dragged her along to during the course of their ten years together. Someone else I know devoted an entire book to immortalising their shared annual visits to Glastonbury. 

The very act of book creation can enhance your relationship because it involves taking time to contemplate not only your connection to the person but reviewing happy memories and appreciating their unique qualities. Don’t forget to include captions and text. Lines of poetry, song lyrics, even scans of cute Post-it notes or postcards can be great to add. You could also handwrite a love letter, take a phone snap and upload the image to include in the book.

Remember that the photos you include don’t need to be magazine-style perfect. It’s the emotion that the pictures spark that is important here. Particularly if it’s a relatively new relationship or if your partner is camera shy, you may feel that you don’t have enough photos to make this type of book. However, you could also add in pictures of the people, places and things you most enjoy as a couple so it becomes a love story moodboard. 

A final lovely idea is to gift your partner a couple’s photoshoot. For peak romance, you could reenact a classic love scene such as Kiss by the Hôtel de Ville by Robert Doisneau. Even if you can’t get to Paris, you could have so much fun trying to come up with a contemporary version in your own town/local beauty spot/supermarket car park. If your partner baulks at that idea, you could attempt something humorous like the spaghetti scene from Lady and The Tramp.

Whatever photo gift you choose, the great thing is that the other person will be thrilled at the time and thought that has gone into creating it. And if you happen to have ordered it at the last minute, they will be none the wiser!