Photographs why do people want them?

I like looking at photos of family members and where I've been on holiday

I only rarely take pictures, but it seems to me that we fear being forgotten. Ourselves, and also everything we love.

When done obsessively, taking pictures shifts the attention from the moment to the image of the moment. This is what Guy Debord describes in the book The Society of Spectacle.

But finding old pictures or videos of family members or me as a kid, or seeing my parents very young and healthy is quite striking and beautiful for me.

Sometimes I can recover the intense emotions felt at those times.

Sorry I often jumble words up, dyslexia strikes again.

I’m reassembling a car at the moment that someone else took apart, no photos to use for reference, cardboard boxes of parts and two builders buckets of bolts, clips and screws, it’s a total nightmare. Most probably 10 times longer than having a record of where tiny clips should be fitted.

I can see the point of taking photos of things you're taking apart, although, whilst I realise than modern smart phones are amazing things, I didn't realise you could use them to restore old cars!!!, lol.

I have a very good memory so I don't need photo's to remember things, people and events.

We've got loads of old photos of me and my Mum standing in front of things, I don't know why?

I photograph classic cars I’m restoring with a smart phone. When disassembling I’m able to record the exact locations of small parts it helps with wiring routes when reassembling as it can be many months later.

Looking at the recent nature photos lately has reignited an old interest, I have got my camera out of the garage and have been looking at new filters. I only photograph nature, when a good shot happens I feel a sense of achievement, I’m planning to go out more,  hopefully it will be good for my mental health.

I share your hatred of being photographed, there are few photos of me in them,  my mother has about 30 albums of printed photos, I don’t know what to do with them when she’s gone. We have two stacker boxes from my in-laws, feel mean to throw them away but am I just keeping them until my children bin them, they definitely have no interest in them. It’s why I keep all my photos digital, 1,000’s of photos stored in a small space.

For me photographs are memories. When my Dad died I kept a box of family photos. Sometimes I like to look through them to remember happy things I had forgotten about. I have a really bad memory so this is helpful. As my only remaining family are those I live with now, I have no one left to remind me of my past.

I also have sets of holidays I enjoyed. Again this is a good thing to remind me of as I no longer go away 

I also like to take a few pictures each year of my garden. My first pictures were at the beginning of the pandemic, of the garden as it was when we moved in the previous autumn. I re used pots that had been left and planted a few seeds. The sunflowers in particular helped to brighten a difficult time. Since then I have made small changes each year, including last year putting in a bed in the middle of the lawn, which is the sunniest part for annuals. It is rewarding to see the changes I have made and the increase in colour.