Can Destruction of Photographs Be As Virtuous As Archiving?

[removed account4]

Oh, the irony......

 

[MattKing]

So true. I guess I need to add that to my will. My wife knows my wishes but unless it's in writing that doesn't mean jack.

Even if a request like that is in writing, it probably isn't enforceable. Your executor has an obligation to protect the assets of your estate and the interests of the beneficiaries therein, and that obligation trumps the wishes recorded in your Will.
That being said, it is a great idea to make your wishes clear.

 

[MattKing]

One thing that should be remembered is that the photographic archives discussed here aren't sequential - they overlap with each other.
IMHO, much of the value of them only becomes evident when they are observed, evaluated and compared in the context of other archives, both photographic and non-photographic.
Photographs are excellent at recording something. They aren't particularly meaningful without some context.
I am currently sitting in my living room. From where I sit I can see framed examples of photographs taken by a number of photographers, over a fairly long period of time. While a bare majority of them are my own work, there are enough others to represent a decent connection between myself, my family and many others.
The oldest photographs currently in my view were taken by my uncle of a very young Queen Elizabeth II. At the time (1953?) she was officially opening a large hydro-electric dam in Ontario, Canada. She is smiling happily in the photos, looking as if she is enjoying her official duties.
The prints themselves are in wonderful shape, including the clear "Property of Ontario Hydro" stamps on the back. As my uncle was chief photographer for Ontario Hydro, I think I know how they came into my parent's possession, and then to ours.
I refer to them because they provide two important things to me. First, they provide a wonderful perspective on how things both change and remain the same over a long period of time. The young Queen in those prints is the very same as the elderly Queen still fulfilling Royal duties - youthful exuberance then, compared with what now?
Secondly, the prints remain as a real connection between myself and my long deceased uncle. There is a connection between us that is rooted in a common interest. That connection would be less tangible without those prints.
I have thousands of my father's photographs - mostly slides and movies. I am glad of it.

 

[blockend]

One of the reasons I adopted books as my chosen form of archive is they're less likely to be thrown away. They're not fine prints, no one will linger over the surface texture, but I get to say what happened, when, in an order I decide and the quality is plenty good enough. People I've given them to are moved in a way I've yet to see with a single print.

A good alternative is to print at the same size and keep photographs in a file that's attractive and easy to manage. People hang on to stuff that doesn't interfere with their day to day life or give them storage problems. The worst of all solutions is to give people a pile of trash we didn't care sufficiently about in our lifetime to organise, in a technology with a high failure rate and an uncertain future. Which is precisely how nearly every photography taken today exists.

 

[ReginaldSMith]

The executors of most wills are spouses and family members, and most photographers are not commercially significant. There surely are cases where a body of work of a photographer is a significant financial asset, but that's the exception, not the rule. In terms of the question, the best you can do when alive is make your wishes understood. If they are not followed upon your death, that's not on you - you're dead. The question was a moral one put upon the creator of the photographs. Leaving the appropriate instructions and wishes satisfies the moral obligation of those who want to clean the slate upon death (or before). Those who choose to ignore your directions are assuming a new moral problem of their own. Always best to take care of such matters when alive.

The big ego is always searching for immortality. Erecting eponymous buildings, monuments, institutions and foundations are what the wealthy attempt to do. Passing on heirlooms is about all the poor can manage. The rewards - "Wow! People are saying my name. People are remembering I was here. People are in MY building," are an illusion that goes up in smoke when you die. There's no Mr. Woolworth out there collecting Brownie points when I mention the "Woolworth Building." No post-life benefits are are being passed from this world into some other world. The time to do the right thing is during your life. The virtue is doing good for humanity while you are part of humanity.

When you hike through the woods, you will inevitably find a tree where someone has concluded they will reap a benefit by carving their initials into the tree. Surely, one of the most desperate and pointless pleas for immortality.

I've seen my share of people dying. And by far, in fact almost 100% of the time, they leave burdens of various kinds upon the living. Sure, they might also leave some wealth (and often that can even turn into a burden), but the most common thing I hear from the living is, "Oh shite! What to do with all that crap!"

One more point. I think it is always assumed that photos enhance a living person's memories of the past, or a passed person. I think photos cut both ways. They may contain too much information, too many keys, of both good and bad ideas. Maybe it's best of memories age, smooth out, lose a little detail, become less explicit and more idealistic.

 

[Lee Rust]

To each their own. When we've passed from the scene, it won't matter why we took our photos or why we kept them or why we discarded or deleted them. The graphic remains of our current slice of history will be meager compared to earlier slices because our digital media are so completely device-dependent. When the gadgets are gone, the images will be gone. Words and pictures made with stable physical media have a proven durability that ranges from centuries to millennia. If you don't care to send any messages to the future, then there's no need to print your pictures. They will disappear when you do.

 

[MattKing]

The executors of most wills are spouses and family members, and most photographers are not commercially significant. There surely are cases where a body of work of a photographer is a significant financial asset, but that's the exception, not the rule. In terms of the question, the best you can do when alive is make your wishes understood. If they are not followed upon your death, that's not on you - you're dead. The question was a moral one put upon the creator of the photographs. Leaving the appropriate instructions and wishes satisfies the moral obligation of those who want to clean the slate upon death (or before). Those who choose to ignore your directions are assuming a new moral problem of their own. Always best to take care of such matters when alive.

I spent a fair few years providing legal advice to testators and executors. My general advice to the testators was to both write down their wishes and discuss their wishes while alive.
When you are dead, executors have a real problem if they want clarification or your thoughts about an issue you didn't think about when you prepared your Will.
And most important of all, if you have photographs, share them and talk about them with those who matter to you while you are still able to.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Reggie, oddly, for a talk talk talk type, you don't understand words. You flounder around your own definitions but deny both common usage and Oxford/Webster et al.

I'd suggest Elements of Style if I thought you were a reader.

https://www.amazon.com/Elements-Sty...=1530820108&sr=8-2&keywords=elements+of+style

 

[faberryman]

If we are worried about burdening our heirs, how do photographs differ from socks, silverware and lawn rakes in this discussion?

 

[ReginaldSMith]

If we are worried about burdening our heirs, how do photographs differ from socks, silverware and lawn rakes in this discussion?

They don't differ much, except to the degree individuals assign value. For example, I've never heard any evacuee of their home in an emergency declare they had to run back in and get a rake. or a pair of socks.

Photographs are always high on the list of "stuff people grab" in disasters.

One way to understand the "burden" I speak of regarding photographs is to find some people who has been divorced or widowed, and let them tell you about the issues of photos involving the other partner. I'm sure I'm unique here in that I do know lots of people in those circumstances, and I have listened to them describe the various emotional troubles that photos can present. I feel fortunate to have had that experience.

 

[removed account4]

Photographs are always high on the list of "stuff people grab" in disasters.

probably not much anymore due to the vacuum cleaner on flickr &c
its preserved forever, like a self cleaning oven

 

[Theo Sulphate]

...There's no Mr. Woolworth out there collecting Brownie points when I mention the "Woolworth Building." No post-life benefits are are being passed from this world into some other world.
...

I just received a communiqué via my laser interferometer: Mr. Woolworth says you're wrong.

Meanwhile, the pyramid in my back garden will contain all the cameras and film I'll need in the afterlife.

probably not much anymore due to the vacuum cleaner on flickr &c
its preserved forever, like a self cleaning oven

But the really old photos likely haven't made it onto Flickr et al.

 

[removed account4]

But the really old photos likely haven't made it onto Flickr et al.

oops ! cheap crappola scanner comes to mind.. i was refering back to a previous post
where i suggested scanning / getting the images digitized ..

sorry for the confusion!

 

[Bill Burk]

I just received a communiqué via my laser interferometer.

I just got a communiqué from Per Volquartz ... have you done your homework?

What good is a workshop without homework?

So here is the first part:

Look up the work (on the Internet) of each of the following artists (be sure to take notes!!!):

Tintoretto
Michelangelo
Modigliani
Brancusi
Mondrian
Edward Weston
Georgia O'Keefe
Gene Kloss
Ralph Gibson
Ansel Adams
Nick Ut
Arnold Newman
Kandinsky
Robert Mapplethorpe
Minor White
Miro
Frederick Evans (platinum printer)

 

[jtk]

My main reason for making duplicate sets has been to let immediate relatives, with whom I have little contact, know what I've been doing.

My main reason for cloud plans (yet unrealized) is to offer something to future relatives who may be interested in what their otherwise forgotten relative was like.

My main reason for avoiding Flickr, as opposed to other cloud-like resources, has always been my desire to set myself apart from photographers who do not/cannot resonably represent themselves as professionals (the vacation people, the marrying people, the phone people). Not important now because I'm not professional now, but was important when I was a professional.