What do we do with them all?

[Jonathan Cross]

There are many members of this forum who have taken images for a long time.  There are many reasons including work, but it is images taken for non-work purposes that this is about.  Many of us take images for the joy of doing so, just as many painters paint.  They can be viewed as a picture diary of where we went and what we did.  With digital images, I suspect that the number taken in a year has increased - true of me - and many will have libraries in the tens or hundreds of thousands.

What do we do with them all?  I guess that some are put on the web or social media, but to me this is ephemeral. Some may get printed and put on the wall, though I suspect that will be a small percentage. Do they just sit on hard drives?   How important are they to us; would we mind if they got wiped?  If we do mind, why is that?

I guess that the many who take between them the billions of smartphone images do view them as ephemeral, but do those of us who invest in equipment, computers, photo paper, printers and software?

Just curious!

Best wishes,

Jonathan

[RSL]

Time will cull them, Jonathan, just as time always has culled other artwork. First to go will be the photographs that aren't artwork but simply record things. Most phone photography falls into that category. Very little of it ever leaves the phones. The stuff that never gets published or printed will disappear too. Beyond that, the good stuff will survive and the bad stuff won't. It's always been that way with painting, poetry, music, novels, short stories, etc., etc., etc. It just takes time.

[Rob C]

There are many members of this forum who have taken images for a long time.  There are many reasons including work, but it is images taken for non-work purposes that this is about.  Many of us take images for the joy of doing so, just as many painters paint.  They can be viewed as a picture diary of where we went and what we did.  With digital images, I suspect that the number taken in a year has increased - true of me - and many will have libraries in the tens or hundreds of thousands.

What do we do with them all?  I guess that some are put on the web or social media, but to me this is ephemeral. Some may get printed and put on the wall, though I suspect that will be a small percentage. Do they just sit on hard drives?   How important are they to us; would we mind if they got wiped?  If we do mind, why is that?

I guess that the many who take between them the billions of smartphone images do view them as ephemeral, but do those of us who invest in equipment, computers, photo paper, printers and software?

Just curious!

Best wishes,

Jonathan

That's why I have a website. When I go, folks close can either keep it running a couple of years more or let it vanish into space. I don't imagine it will disturb anyone very much either way.

The only valuable pix I have are of family, very rare, because I was not a happy snapper. Yet, for the remaining, tiny print of my wife, torn from her expired International Driving Licence, I would go back into the burning apartment to rescue it. I remember the moment of shooting it. It bears the way she looked that has become the way I remember her always to have looked, even though I know that's impossible.

Values change with your life.

[PeterAit]

I have about 29,000 photos in Lightroom--and that's after a pretty serious culling! They are divided into 4 main categories as follows:

Travels 48% (we have travelled quite a bit)
Family 22% (2 kids, 2 grandkids, so to be expected!)
North Carolina coast 12% (we spend a lot of time there)
Miscellaneous 17% (everything else)

I suppose after I shuffle off, the family pix will be of interest to relatives, but the others will just vanish from existence except possibly for a few prints still hanging here and there. This is, of course, perfectly in tune with the core Buddhist principle of impermanence.