Without a clear plan, a photographer’s archive can become a burden rather than a legacy, leaving heirs — spouses, children or executors — to navigate complex decisions about storage, access and preservation. Ruth Orkin, best known for “American Girl in Italy” — a striking 1951 photograph of a young woman striding through a Florentine street as men turn to look — ensured her archive would be in the secure hands of her daughter, Mary Engel. But even with that preparation, Engel faced a steep learning curve as she took on the task when her mother died. Seeing how many others were in the same position, she founded the American Photography Archives Group in 2000. What began as a small peer network has since grown into a nonprofit with nearly 300 members, assisting both living photographers, such as Pete Souza, and the estates of legends such as Ansel Adams, Lee Miller, Elliott Erwitt, and André Kertész.