Photographic Archiving and Naming Convention
This naming system embeds visual metadata directly into the filename. By doing so, it ensures an absolute chronological, geographical, and thematic hierarchy that remains intact across any operating system. The architecture is built on a modular formula comprising seven distinct variables.
The System Formula: [Creator]_[YYYYMMDD]_[Country][City]_[Category]-[ProjectCode]_[SequenceNumber]
1. Anatomy of the System
Each filename is a hierarchical data chain, separated by underscores (_) and hyphens (-). Based on a standard example (ER_20170323_TRIST_P-RAF_01), the logic of the sequence is mapped below:
| Seq | Component | Code / Value | Description & Format |
| 01 | Creator | ER |
Initials of the photographer or archive owner. |
| 02 | Date | 20170323 |
YYYYMMDD format. Prioritizes the year to force an absolute chronological sorting of folders and files. |
| 03 | Country | TR |
2-letter country code (ISO standard or custom). |
| 04 | City | IST |
3-letter code derived from the city’s consonants or international codes. |
| 05 | Category | P |
Content type. In this structure, P stands for “Project.” |
| 06 | Project Name | RAF |
3-letter abbreviation of the specific project title. |
| 07 | Sequence Number | 01 |
2-digit consecutive number to differentiate photographs sharing identical parameters. |
2. Standardized Data Sets (The Dictionary)
The integrity of this system relies on strict adherence to the predefined abbreviations below.
Geographical Codes
Implementation Note: Country and city codes are merged in the filename without spaces or underscores (e.g., TRIST, BFOUA).
| Country (2 Letters) | City (3 Letters) |
| AL: Albania | SHK: Shkodër, LSH: Lushnjë, TRN: Tirana |
| BD: Bangladesh | DHK: Dhaka, RNG: Rangpur |
| BF: Burkina Faso | OUA: Ouagadougou, KAY: Kaya |
| ET: Ethiopia | ADD: Addis Ababa |
| JO: Jordan | MFR: Mafraq |
| NG: Niger | NIA: Niamey, TSA: Tessaoua |
| NP: Nepal | KTH: Kathmandu, BDH: Budhanagar |
| PH: Philippines | MNL: Manila, CTB: Cotabato |
| PK: Pakistan | JLL: Jalalabad |
| SL: Sierra Leone | FRT: Freetown |
| TN: Tunisia | TUN: Tunis (City) |
| TR: Türkiye | IST: Istanbul, TKD: Tekirdağ |
| TZ: Tanzania | MRG: Morogoro, DRS: Dar es Salaam |
Project Codes (P-XXX)
-
RAF: Ramparts and Faces
-
TTF: Through The Fire
-
TLM: The Breath of Eastern Black Sea (The Making of a Traditional Bagpipe/Tulum)
-
AFT: Lives in the Shadows: Albino Families in Tanzania
-
BRC: Burkina Faso Refugee Camps
-
BTW: Between Two Waves
3. Decoding the Nomenclature
The resilience of this system lies in its readability. It provides immediate, exact context regardless of time or location:
-
ER_20240311_BFOUA_P-BRC_01-
Decoded: Photograph number 01, captured by ER on March 11, 2024, in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, for the “Burkina Faso Refugee Camps” (BRC) project.
-
-
ER_20260221_SLFRT_P-BTW_01-
Decoded: Photograph number 01, captured by ER on February 21, 2026, in Freetown, Sierra Leone, for the “Between Two Waves” (BTW) project.
-