A quick follow up to yesterday’s post, asking and just talking about what we do with our photos from our main cameras that are not family or friend related once we’ve finished with them. The feedback on the groups and places it was posted was phenomenal, especially in the overwhelming answer that came from all those replies!
It seems that you do absolutely nothing with the images you take with your main camera (that are not photos taken with family, friends or on holiday etc). Absolutely nothing! And the guilt from the comments was glaring!
The occasional person said they go back and edit them, but this is of course still not actually doing anything with them. While one person said that sell everything on stock image sites.
The biggest regret, mentioned in almost every answer was that they wished that they printed their images in one of three ways, to truly appreciate their photography.
• Print out images for an album of memories (like they used to have prints of film cameras).
• Get a Zine’ or photo-book made of their favourite images.
• Get their favourite images made into large prints or a canvas to hang on their walls.
So, overwhelmingly, the images we take with our main cameras, we usually do absolutely nothing with. For many, they said they don’t even look at their older photos that they have taken while out on shoots.
Conclusion
Just as the original post said, unless it’s family, friends or a special occasion, most people, most of the time do not do anything useful with their images other than occasionally look over them on their phone or computer. But they are not displayed in their house, not printed for albums, not made into photo-books and just left in the digital graveyard, mostly forgotten.
I’m really grateful for the feedback, and the response from the article really made people chat and think about the future.
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Hey Mark, The outcome doesn’t surprise me. Large archives and “doing nothing” with most images is simply normal. What does surprise me is the idea of guilt and regret attached to that fact. Not every photograph needs a destination to have value.
I see an archive as a personal notebook rather than a backlog of unfinished work. You can’t print everything, and images that are never printed or shared don’t suddenly become meaningless. They remain part of your memory, your way of seeing, your photographic diary.
The real point, perhaps, is that nothing is required. You’re not different from anyone else, you’re not doing it wrong, and you don’t owe your photographs an outcome. Some memories can stay buried, quietly yours, and that’s perfectly fine, at least, that’s my opinion.
Have a great day !
Marc
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Indeed, that was the point when reading through the replies and conversions. Most people are the same when it comes to they’re work that doesn’t involve family, friends or occasions.
With family etc, most of them openly aid they print those images, or display them, or openly share them constantly with everyone around them, because they are actually special and meaningful. Whereas, in hindsight, the other stuff is the complete opposite and fully disposable most of the time.
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