Winnowing Photos

 #326: What To Keep

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I was reading an article in the latest New Yorker about someone who hires herself out as something of a photo collection editor.  She'll wade through your tens of thousands of photos, and remove the junk, leaving you with just the best.

My immediate thought was 'no way'.  Many times when looking at old photos I've wished the photographer had turned the camera a little bit this way or that.  Here's a good example:

Family members and their pets

(and bikes) are wonderful.  Even 

the photographer (looks like a

woman's dress?) is in the picture.

But a few steps to the right is an

old house whose interior is lost

--nobody thought to take pictures.

Here's an 'outside' example:

"What kind of a mailbox did you used to have?"  

"I don't remember.  Oh wait, here's a photo.  You

can just barely see it."

And, finally, the 'studio shot' 

photo from long ago:

If people then had known 

what to photograph, they 

could've been rich, maybe 

even literally so.  

But no, we've just the one 

image.

Which means, unless you're absolutely sure there's nothing in a photo, don't junk it.

But, then there's also the thought that if we're living in the present, do we really need sub-par shots to waste away our lives?