Tossing Negatives After They've Been Scanned

[MattKing]

Not keeping out of focus or wonky negatives is "throwaway society"??

Of course not.
Although the negatives that you think are "wonky" now may very well reveal hidden value if you work with them later.
It depends on how "wonky" your "wonky" is.
See this thread for an idea of what time and inventiveness can reveal when one is working with a negative that, in this case, might be argued to be slightly over-developed: https://www.photrio.com/forum/threads/lets-all-print-or-maybe-scan-one-negative-2025.215648/

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

I have a large collection of "wonky" negatives, where I have found compositions hidden inside. We can learn so much from our wonky negatives.

 

[MattKing]

"Wonky" Negatives - a great idea for a new Photrio print exchange!

 

[foc]

We can learn so much from our wonky negatives.

Forget the negative, I'm just a wonky photographer!!!

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

Forget the negative, I'm just a wonky photographer!!!

Ditto!

 

[wiltw]

Not keeping out of focus or wonky negatives is "throwaway society"??

No, that is good housekeeping!
What I submit is that knowing our digital data is not reasonably accessible for 50-100 years (and digital storage IS less permanent that that) and assuming it does have that longevity is an attitude of 'throw away' value of things, (or being an ostrich on the topic). So destroying our negs because we have digitzed them is a pollyanna view if the permanene of the digital data access.
And while we as hobbyists photographers might have little chance of value of our images after we have passed, other photographers -- like those whose profession is is record/document human events and our surroundings -- suffer from the same problems of digital data permanence...Years of professionally recorded music that were 'archived' to digital have ALREADY been lost!

 

[GregY]

I don't really care if my negatives get thrown away when i am gone, but i am thankful that my parents negatives did not get thrown out. I was able to print some 620 negatives from my parents wedding that had been taken by a guest and had never been printed...from a time before i was born.
I am glad Vivian Maier's negatives had not been thrown out.... after all they were just hobby snapshots by someone's spinster nanny....

 

[Guy S]

Well it seems the answer is going to be the usual boring “middle of the road” cautious approach. Assess your likely need of the materials in future, consider the ability to reproduce them given changes in computing, how much anyone would bother, how important or valuable the images are to you or future generations etc…

Negatives have similar vulnerabilities to changes in the availability of tech.
If all photographic paper went away you could still make teeny tiny alt prints from 135 and 120 but thats about it right?

And if you take pictures with an end goal in mind is it truly irresponsible to dispose of the intermediate material?

 

[GregY]

Well it seems the answer is going to be the usual boring “middle of the road” cautious approach. Assess your likely need of the materials in future, consider the ability to reproduce them given changes in computing, how much anyone would bother, how important or valuable the images are to you or future generations etc…

Negatives have similar vulnerabilities to changes in the availability of tech.
If all photographic paper went away you could still make teeny tiny alt prints from 135 and 120 but thats about it right?

And if you take pictures with an end goal in mind is it truly irresponsible to dispose of the intermediate material?

If commercial enlarging paper went away.... you could still coat your own. Or hunt for old silver chloride paper. I've made contact prints on Azo paper from 1949.

 

[gbroadbridge]

If commercial enlarging paper went away.... you could still coat your own. Or hunt for old silver chloride paper. I've made contact prints on Azo paper from 1949.

When commercial photographic paper goes away, there are alt processes and spray paint.