I haven't taken a personal photo album myself, but a girl in my dormitory did it before. She took a photo album with her best friend in high school. Her family's economic conditions are relatively good and she likes it very much, basically once every two years. Some students take pictures after work. Maybe the students are not well-off and it is not good to ask their parents for money, so they wait until they have income to satisfy their little wishes.
In fact, the photos taken are basically close-ups. Students who are not well off can choose to match their own clothes and makeup, shoot with their own mobile phones, and then retouch them to make photo albums and ornaments. There are many kinds of retouching software now, and the operation is relatively simple. Students can completely control it. The finished product is not necessarily worse than the photo studio outside, and it feels more meaningful.
In addition, it is not necessary to take pictures as a souvenir. Usually, you can record some wonderful moments and meaningful things in your life with your mobile phone and then make a small video, which is also very memorable. For example, I take a family photo with my family every year, when the whole family goes out to travel in a district, when I take photos at family activities and so on. These things are rich in content, and every photo or small video can tell the story behind them, not as monotonous as an album.