That's a very sad story. Do you think the deceased had become estranged from their families? I wonder if the relatives would have shown any more interest in a suitcase full of prints?
The unfortunate fact is that images are only safe as long as someone cares enough to preserve them, whether they are prints or digital files. A collection of old prints is no safer than a hard drive if nobody wants them.
> Do you think the deceased had become estranged from their families?
It could be that, at least on some level, or some degree of hostility; it could be merely blunt stupidity. In both cases involving a death, the only thing the family was interested in was things related to the all mighty $. Beyond that, they didn’t GAS.
I’ve seen this kind of thing a number of times. In one case that didn’t involve a death but a partially failed drive I asked the owner if he wanted me to recover the digital images from a wife’s computer. I explained that all that was involved was copying the files as they were intact, and that there were probably a few thousand image files. He said: “No.” I always ask at least 2x and he confirmed 2x. The owner later told me that the wife was thoroughly pissed that the files weren’t recovered.
My supposition is that if there is any latent hostility or an opportunity for a back-hand towards someone, it will come out in times such as this.
> I wonder if the relatives would have shown any more interest in a suitcase full of prints?
Based on the above, probably not, unless they thought they could profit from the prints.
> The unfortunate fact is that images are only safe as long as someone cares enough to preserve them, whether they are prints or digital files. A collection of old prints is no safer than a hard drive if nobody wants them.
Agreed.