Digital photography is seen as "free" so many photographers "spray and pray". There's some merit in this if one is shooting sports or fast cars, etc. but I grew up with film and still shoot like there's 36 (or 12) on a roll. Seldom do I cull. That said, seldom do I revisit many of my old files - but I'm about to rescan literally hundreds of rolls of 35mm and 120 film, so I'm hoping I might find some wheat in the chaff.
I so often lament the fact that digital photographers so often clean up/discard when they don’t get the exact shot they want. It is a loss. A loss, exactly because you don’t give yourself time to revisit and reconsider. With negs at least it is still there, though it may not get printed, it is not lost. There are collectors for those happy accidents, though fewer are contemporary photographs, because, alas, they were deleted! Excellent post! Many thanks!!
Excellent points. I typically limit what I upload from my camera in the first place. I try hard to be open minded about the kinds of images you showed here (which I love). But who knows what disappeared forever.
I used to spend a lot of time worrying about what others "like" in photography. Now I just do what I like. Sometimes it resonates with others and sometimes it doesn't. I spend a lot of time in my archives pulling out things that I once skipped over because others won't like it. I had trained my eye to that philosophy so much that there is a lot of stuff in there that I actually like and never even considered in the past.
“If the viewer does not like your photo, they are not ready yet.” That's a good way to put it. But I'll add that I think a challenging image needs to shown in the right setting. That can help people get ready for it.
This is so spot on. The picture doesn't change - we do. Time changes everything. Perceptions change. Life experience changes the ways we look at things. Love it.
Goodness this is so true Marcel. In the past I would delete the files that didn't fit my thinking back then, but now I feel less inclined to do this. I'm learning a great lesson about this right now as I'm in the process of copying my archive over to a new drive and reviewing each year as I go - I'm finding less than perfect images that I like now but that I just left to sit there untouched in the past.
I definitely agree that one’s point of view and feelings about images changes over time. I’m experiencing that now, when I look at my old images of Los Angeles in the 1990s and finding things I never noticed before.
But that being said, I still can make an argument for light culling of photos. Especially if there are a number of alternate similar images….
I already have an archive that is 16 large file cabinet drawers + several bookshelves and I shudder to think how much bigger it would be if I never threw out anything at all!
For me, it is not about storage capacity, but about overwhelm. Depending on how long someone has been shooting, that’s a LOT of images and in my case, it’s 40 years of shooting both Film and Digital.
So going through such a vast number of images makes me not even want to tackle such a difficult task
So in general, I agree with your sentiment, but I just modify it in my particular case. When there’s too much of something, it’s too daunting. Kind of like walking into a huge warehouse store compared to a small manageable one.
Over the years I've learned the hard way that you shouldn't always delete/destroy images that, at the time, don't meet your expectations. These days I'm a lot less eager to get rid of them as I do find myself going back to them for another look, maybe make some editing changes etc.
I love the portrait image, both the black and white and colour versions. Proof that not every photo has to be in perfect focus to be good.
I think that is a really beautiful portrait (the colour version); and agree that I often return to old images of my own that I originally dismissed (I very rarely delete any): finding new life in them, as if I have learned something in between that helps me understand them more.
A good read, Marcel. It crosses my mind when I go through my archives: should I trim down? But every time I visit them, I inevitably find a few I overlooked and then I let go of that idea. It’s so true that we were a different person when we took those images and over time, with fresh eyes, they mean differently.
I love this post! I think it's so true. I often go through my archives and discover something new every single time, something that now, looking back, I actually like.
The second photo is actually so cool, like an abstract!! And the first one is truly a beautiful shot. Thanks for sharing this!
Spot on Marcel that as we grow and change, our relationship to the photos we created past to present grows and changes too. One of the key incentives of doing "Photo Prompts" for me is to have an excuse to go back to the archives with intention, and reconnect to forgotten images in a new way.
Though one question I have for others is how you organize your archive to find stuff again. I know there are people who have kept a well tagged Lightroom catalog for years, but if not, how else do people find their old stuff, short of going back to every folder of images from every past session?
Good to have an ‘excuse’ to revisit your archive. Keep it up.
As for your question on how to organize your archive, that is a really interesting question. Might be food for a specific discussion, as I believe most of us have their favourite way of organizing and who knows what we can learn from that?
My question is this, not about "seeing," but sbout "feeling." We evolve, we see differently. We notice qualities in a photo we had not previously seen. Our old catalogs have value after all! But what happens when, yes, you can now see those qualities, but you've lost the connection to whatever it was that drove you to take the photo in the first place. The point at which you departed to take that photo has moved, it's lost to you. What then?
Hmmm, don’t know. Guess you can lose the feeling as you don’t remember the moment you snapped, but still feel something when viewing the image. And enjoy it.
I ask because I think there are two relationships one has with one's photos: emotive and, let's call the second "technical". Over time I've lost my sense of the emotive energy behind some of my photos. I recall the place/framing, etc, but the emotional reason behind its taking is lost. What compelled to take that series of photos? Not having access to that emotive source changes my relationship to the photos. I can still see their technical strengths and weaknesses, but without the emotive connection, what value do they hold for me? It doesn't happen often, but going into my old catalogs, it happens and I'm left holding images that I no longer have a relationship with, except as its creator. Not being able to recreate the feelings that were present at their taking alienates me from them. It's a strange evolution of my relationship to them to experience.
Digital photography is seen as "free" so many photographers "spray and pray". There's some merit in this if one is shooting sports or fast cars, etc. but I grew up with film and still shoot like there's 36 (or 12) on a roll. Seldom do I cull. That said, seldom do I revisit many of my old files - but I'm about to rescan literally hundreds of rolls of 35mm and 120 film, so I'm hoping I might find some wheat in the chaff.
I hope you will find some new gems in your archive
Very relatable! I even used to delete some shots directly in the camera. I try not to do it anymore but sometimes the old reflex kicks in haha
Make it a habit to not touch the delete button.
I so often lament the fact that digital photographers so often clean up/discard when they don’t get the exact shot they want. It is a loss. A loss, exactly because you don’t give yourself time to revisit and reconsider. With negs at least it is still there, though it may not get printed, it is not lost. There are collectors for those happy accidents, though fewer are contemporary photographs, because, alas, they were deleted! Excellent post! Many thanks!!
Thanks friend. Never delete a photo.
Excellent points. I typically limit what I upload from my camera in the first place. I try hard to be open minded about the kinds of images you showed here (which I love). But who knows what disappeared forever.
I used to spend a lot of time worrying about what others "like" in photography. Now I just do what I like. Sometimes it resonates with others and sometimes it doesn't. I spend a lot of time in my archives pulling out things that I once skipped over because others won't like it. I had trained my eye to that philosophy so much that there is a lot of stuff in there that I actually like and never even considered in the past.
“If the viewer does not like your photo, they are not ready yet.” That's a good way to put it. But I'll add that I think a challenging image needs to shown in the right setting. That can help people get ready for it.
This is so spot on. The picture doesn't change - we do. Time changes everything. Perceptions change. Life experience changes the ways we look at things. Love it.
Thank you Dave.
Goodness this is so true Marcel. In the past I would delete the files that didn't fit my thinking back then, but now I feel less inclined to do this. I'm learning a great lesson about this right now as I'm in the process of copying my archive over to a new drive and reviewing each year as I go - I'm finding less than perfect images that I like now but that I just left to sit there untouched in the past.
Never delete your photos, Lin. Period.
I definitely agree that one’s point of view and feelings about images changes over time. I’m experiencing that now, when I look at my old images of Los Angeles in the 1990s and finding things I never noticed before.
But that being said, I still can make an argument for light culling of photos. Especially if there are a number of alternate similar images….
I already have an archive that is 16 large file cabinet drawers + several bookshelves and I shudder to think how much bigger it would be if I never threw out anything at all!
Yes, having a number of shots does not make sense, though you might not know which image will call you later. And is storage capacity really an issue?
For me, it is not about storage capacity, but about overwhelm. Depending on how long someone has been shooting, that’s a LOT of images and in my case, it’s 40 years of shooting both Film and Digital.
So going through such a vast number of images makes me not even want to tackle such a difficult task
So in general, I agree with your sentiment, but I just modify it in my particular case. When there’s too much of something, it’s too daunting. Kind of like walking into a huge warehouse store compared to a small manageable one.
Modifying it to your specific case is the best thing you can do. There's no 'wrong or right', only a 'what fits, fits'
Over the years I've learned the hard way that you shouldn't always delete/destroy images that, at the time, don't meet your expectations. These days I'm a lot less eager to get rid of them as I do find myself going back to them for another look, maybe make some editing changes etc.
I love the portrait image, both the black and white and colour versions. Proof that not every photo has to be in perfect focus to be good.
Thanks Mark. And also proof that it is a shame if such images go to waste.
I think that is a really beautiful portrait (the colour version); and agree that I often return to old images of my own that I originally dismissed (I very rarely delete any): finding new life in them, as if I have learned something in between that helps me understand them more.
Thanks. And that portrait is way better than the (sharp) portraits I took after this ‘failure’
A good read, Marcel. It crosses my mind when I go through my archives: should I trim down? But every time I visit them, I inevitably find a few I overlooked and then I let go of that idea. It’s so true that we were a different person when we took those images and over time, with fresh eyes, they mean differently.
Appreciate it, Stella. Good to hear you have found some overlooked ones.
I love this post! I think it's so true. I often go through my archives and discover something new every single time, something that now, looking back, I actually like.
The second photo is actually so cool, like an abstract!! And the first one is truly a beautiful shot. Thanks for sharing this!
Thank you Manuela. Glad you liked the post. And the photos ;-)
Spot on Marcel that as we grow and change, our relationship to the photos we created past to present grows and changes too. One of the key incentives of doing "Photo Prompts" for me is to have an excuse to go back to the archives with intention, and reconnect to forgotten images in a new way.
Though one question I have for others is how you organize your archive to find stuff again. I know there are people who have kept a well tagged Lightroom catalog for years, but if not, how else do people find their old stuff, short of going back to every folder of images from every past session?
Good to have an ‘excuse’ to revisit your archive. Keep it up.
As for your question on how to organize your archive, that is a really interesting question. Might be food for a specific discussion, as I believe most of us have their favourite way of organizing and who knows what we can learn from that?
My question is this, not about "seeing," but sbout "feeling." We evolve, we see differently. We notice qualities in a photo we had not previously seen. Our old catalogs have value after all! But what happens when, yes, you can now see those qualities, but you've lost the connection to whatever it was that drove you to take the photo in the first place. The point at which you departed to take that photo has moved, it's lost to you. What then?
Hmmm, don’t know. Guess you can lose the feeling as you don’t remember the moment you snapped, but still feel something when viewing the image. And enjoy it.
I ask because I think there are two relationships one has with one's photos: emotive and, let's call the second "technical". Over time I've lost my sense of the emotive energy behind some of my photos. I recall the place/framing, etc, but the emotional reason behind its taking is lost. What compelled to take that series of photos? Not having access to that emotive source changes my relationship to the photos. I can still see their technical strengths and weaknesses, but without the emotive connection, what value do they hold for me? It doesn't happen often, but going into my old catalogs, it happens and I'm left holding images that I no longer have a relationship with, except as its creator. Not being able to recreate the feelings that were present at their taking alienates me from them. It's a strange evolution of my relationship to them to experience.