After death: What shall happen to our photos?

[koraks]

IMO a lot of what happens at weddings is vanity

Of course. The whole essence of a wedding is to make people/society witness the act of engaging in a durable bond. As such, it's an inherently exhibitionist act.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

My value proposition is from the perspective of the client. Having attended dozens of weddings over the past two decades (with cinematographers present at all) and having missed a few, too, I have not heard about anyone sharing the videos. No doubt there are cases where granny cannot come due to physical inability to travel, and sharing the video with her makes a lot of sense. It does seem an expensive way to share only in such limited cases; it is likely shared only with the mom and dad of each side of the ceremony, for reminiscence (but, again, how often does it ever get viewed?!) I cannot say that I ever saw my wife stiing to view the still photos from daughters' weddings...they have occasionally been 'run acrossed' and flipped thru, but a video is intentional and not 'run acrossed'

Style and tastes change a lot. years ago couples hired bands now they often hire DJ's. They do it because their girlfriends did it. Same with videographers. I find that between videographers and still photographers, they're all over the place and it takes away the enjoyment for guests. Everything is part of a production like a Hollywood movie. They're underfoot.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

What a shame. Maybe if there had been physical albums sent to you. On the other hand, when was the last time you looked at your wedding album? And, unless it is on a wall somewhere, a wedding photo at all?

After thrity years of marriage, some couples begin to want to see proof that they were really married after all.

 

[wiltw]

I find that between videographers and still photographers, they're all over the place and it takes away the enjoyment for guests. Everything is part of a production like a Hollywood movie. They're underfoot.

As is true of wedding photography 40 years ago, the specific photographer/team has a lot to do with degree of obtrusiveness. One could detect the differences then, once can still detect differences currently.

• Denis Reggie made his coverage popular in the 'photojounalistic style' and was sought by the 'rich or famous', and the style was popularized in part by sponsorship by Hasselblad.
  Contrast his style with the 'classic' coverage in which cake cutting is posed, etc. Guest shots are posed. With a photojournalistic background, I mimiced Reggie more than the classic photographer, incorporating both approaches at different points in the day...formal group wedding party, yet guest candids and events like cake cut/feed.
• A few years ago we attended a wedding in which the bride and groom were constantly 'directed' by the photographers, who even orchestrated the sequence of events during the wedding and reception; very obtrusive
  OTOH we attended a wedding last week that had both photogrpher and videographer who were scarcely noticeable, and only they 'took over' for group photos of the wedding party before the reception dinner started.

 

[Sirius Glass]

One place I worked a very long time ago had an employee who was spectacularly good at restoration of old photos. His skills with copy negatives were amazing.
But in the addition to this, he was employed to do another type of work, the nature of which turns out to be a fore-runner of sorts.
He was doing a lot of work copying wedding and family photos, and then re-printing them in an edited form - with one or more of the subjects no longer to be seen!
Mostly ex-spouses/ex son-in-laws/ex daughters-in-law I seem to recall.

That is an interesting business model. How would you suggest he say in an advertisement?

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

As is true of wedding photography 40 years ago, the specific photographer/team has a lot to do with degree of obtrusiveness. One could detect the differences then, once can still detect differences currently.

• Denis Reggie made his coverage popular in the 'photojounalistic style' and was sought by the 'rich or famous', and the style was popularized in part by sponsorship by Hasselblad.
  Contrast his style with the 'classic' coverage in which cake cutting is posed, etc. Guest shots are posed. With a photojournalistic background, I mimiced Reggie more than the classic photographer, incorporating both approaches at different points in the day...formal group wedding party, yet guest candids and events like cake cut/feed.
• A few years ago we attended a wedding in which the bride and groom were constantly 'directed' by the photographers, who even orchestrated the sequence of events during the wedding and reception; very obtrusive
  OTOH we attended a wedding last week that had both photogrpher and videographer who were scarcely noticeable, and only they 'took over' for group photos of the wedding party before the reception dinner started.

You;re right that a lot depends on the company working and their expertise. One of the things suggested to me was that one should hire both the photographer and the videographer from the same company. That avoids competition between the two groups that could screw up the affair and make everyone miserable.

 

[VinceInMT]

IMO a lot of what happens at weddings is vanity. I shot weddings professionally for 30 years and it appeared to me, that the bigger the budget, the bigger the ego of the couple.

I was getting paid so who am I to complain?

My running partner is a professional photographer who is heading toward retirement. As he started slowing down the business the first thing he cut were weddings. He said he’s had enough of the Bridezillas And their mothers.

 

[VinceInMT]

After thrity years of marriage, some couples begin to want to see proof that they were really married after all.

Or trying to figure out what they ever saw in that other person that brought them to that agreement.

You know, they say married people live longer but many say it just seems longer. (Sorry, it’s a joke from an early 40s radio show I heard recently.)

 

[MattKing]

Some of the weddings I photographed were sorely lacking in organization.
Even though the couple really wanted the results to reflect their vision of an organized wedding.
So sometimes, while organizing the photos, I helped organize other things too!
"Is it time to cut the cake?"

 

[VinceInMT]

“All photographs are memento mori. To take a photograph is to participate in another person’s (or thing’s) mortality, vulnerability, mutability. Precisely by slicing out this moment and freezing it, all photographs testify to time’s relentless melt.”
- Susan Sontag

 

[beemermark]

I've skipped reading all the posts because I do find it morbid. In my '70's and at my age you begin to see the end of the trail and start making plans for your children and younger friends. Speaking from experience most (if not all) of them will go to digital heaven. I have pictures of my great grand parents and my grand parents back when prints (even Kodak box photos) were made on what seems to be archival paper. Only a few exist and I really doubt that my grown children will even be interested in them. Old photographs are only passed around between family members when they get old to say do you remember Uncle Zerb, or some other forgotten relative. All the artistic and travel photos go in the dump.

 

[VinceInMT]

…..Only a few exist and I really doubt that my grown children will even be interested in them. Old photographs are only passed around between family members when they get old to say do you remember Uncle Zerb, or some other forgotten relative. All the artistic and travel photos go in the dump.

It occurs to me that a family album, even an anonymous one without annotations, that covers a few generations, has a narrative of its own that can be quite interesting.

 

[wiltw]

It occurs to me that a family album, even an anonymous one without annotations, that covers a few generations, has a narrative of its own that can be quite interesting.

What is often overlooked is that past photos can have significance to historians and anthropologics...

• while the people themselves are of no great significance, their way of life, their manner of dress, their activities all chronicle life at one point in time,
• and the state of existence of geographic points in time, in the buildings present, the state of the streets (dirt, gravelled, paved) and fixtures (gas lights, incandescent lights, sodium vapor),
• and significant events in time like major floods, Olympic events, assisnations of major figures
• even the depiction of significant points in the evolution of inventions like flexible phones, EVs, even personal computing devices
• recorded existence of significant objects at one point in time that no longer exist due to natural or man-caused reasons

Recent rediscovered photos depict life in Gaza before a seven-year blockade brought Gaza to its knees, and before Hamas took power, 70-80 years ago the city had a totally different cultural identity and feel,

I took photos of many large chunks of ice which had broken off glaciers and were floating in a lake in Patagonia during the 1980's, and someone who had travelled to the same locattion in more recent times reported it was now largely clear of ice, the effect of global warming.

This was shot on 6x4.5 color transparency in 1986, and this much ice was present in November, which is shortly prior to their 'summer'.

Franz Joseph Glacier, taken by me in 2006...

and more recent photo https://www.theguardian.com/environ...nd-of-the-ice-new-zealands-vanishing-glaciers

and only 15 years ago the glacier had extended out to where the valley flattens out to level terrain, it is evident that it has retreated back within the valley, between the opposing slopes.


...How many of these will be lost due to digital recording, with few paper copies of what was recorded?!
We might not be passing them to historian/anthropologists, but their continued existence means that they can potentially be rediscovered and their value realized.

 

[Businessfotos]

Dear All, Thank you so much for all this wonderful Content, all These thoughts! I have written a blog Post about our findings, if you are interested: https://blog-erdmenger-de.translate...l=auto&_x_tr_tl=de&_x_tr_hl=de&_x_tr_pto=wapp

This should link to the google translation of my blog, hope it works …

Regards, Till

 

[Pieter12]

What is often overlooked is that past photos can have significance to historians and anthropologics...

• while the people themselves are of no great significance, their way of life, their manner of dress, their activities all chronicle life at one point in time,
• and the state of existence of geographic points in time, in the buildings present, the state of the streets (dirt, gravelled, paved) and fixtures (gas lights, incandescent lights, sodium vapor),
• and significant events in time like major floods, Olympic events, assisnations of major figures
• even the depiction of significant points in the evolution of inventions like flexible phones, EVs, even personal computing devices
• recorded existence of significant objects at one point in time that no longer exist due to natural or man-caused reasons

Recent rediscovered photos depict life in Gaza before a seven-year blockade brought Gaza to its knees, and before Hamas took power, 70-80 years ago the city had a totally different cultural identity and feel,

I took photos of many large chunks of ice which had broken off glaciers and were floating in a lake in Patagonia during the 1980's, and someone who had travelled to the same locattion in more recent times reported it was now largely clear of ice, the effect of global warming.

This was shot on 6x4.5 color transparency in 1986, and this much ice was present in November, which is shortly prior to their 'summer'.

Franz Joseph Glacier, taken by me in 2006...

and more recent photo https://www.theguardian.com/environ...nd-of-the-ice-new-zealands-vanishing-glaciers

and only 15 years ago the glacier had extended out to where the valley flattens out to level terrain, it is evident that it has retreated back within the valley, between the opposing slopes.


...How many of these will be lost due to digital recording, with few paper copies of what was recorded?!
We might not be passing them to historian/anthropologists, but their continued existence means that they can potentially be rediscovered and their value realized.

Although maybe not as important or historically significantnot as old photos of glaciers and locations may prove to be, there was in interesting case recently at the Los Angeles County of Art involving a small portrait of Frida Kahlo by Diego Rivera. Apparently, Rivera painted only one easel portrait of Kahlo (although she was often included in his murals) and LACMA had it in their collection. It was not dated, but they estimated it to have been made around 1939. The L.A. Times art critic had been going through the Smithsonian Institute's Juley archives, researching photos of Kahlo and Rivera and came across a photo of the painting. It was clearly dated 1935, rendering it significant because that was the year the couple split--so the portrait was possibly an expression of Rivera's longing for Kahlo.

 

[Pieter12]

It occurs to me that a family album, even an anonymous one without annotations, that covers a few generations, has a narrative of its own that can be quite interesting.

Notations are quite important. Over time, names and faces will be forgotten and the photos' connections to later generations will be lost. Otherwise, it's just a bunch of old strangers doing outdated things wearing old-fashion clothes and hairstyles.