Organization and Legacy
by Mark ~ November 18th, 2007. Filed under: News & Tips, art, organization, philosophy, wonder.
There is a fantastic conversation between several well known photographers, recently recorded into a podcast by George Jardine. The topic is basically many thoughts about archiving of photographs, our organization of them, and why. Jay Maisel, Greg Gorman, Seth Resnick and of course George all weigh in on the systems and philosophies they use (or lack thereof) to organize their images. It is a bit comforting to hear how even these guys are still trying to navigate through the complexities of keywording, image organization, digital archives, and applying some justification and rationale in how their images are cataloged.
I couldn’t agree more with their statements on how the best system is the one that works for you personally, not necessarily adoption of the system suggested by a book, a teacher, or even other pro photographers. Everyone has different objectives in mind, evident by each of these guys describing how they organize – and it is important that your system is a good fit with your objectives.
One very interesting thing they discuss at length, that often isn’t mentioned when it comes to image management, is the topic of legacy. For many of us as photographers, we can only hope when we are gone, some of our images will remain behind as perhaps a symbol of our contributions (however great or small) while we were here and what we enjoyed doing most. As a photographer approaching 40 (January folks – it’s coming soon – get the black balloons! 
) – I suppose the thought has crossed my mind a couple of times now that my life is for the most part, half over if I am lucky. In many ways, I think I have only started growing as a photographer. There are a few images I wouldn’t mind being remembered for if I should die tomorrow. How would anyone know which those are? Look for 5 stars? Certain colors? Of course, my contributions (as well as volume of work) to the photographic community and art form as a whole are tiny compared to these guys – but in general – the questions are the same.
These guys ask a key question – what images do you want to be remembered for, and how will anyone know that? Is it important that such a thing is built into whatever organizational system that you use? It is one thing to develop a system that works for you personally – it can change greatly if the perspective of usability by someone else is factored in. How will the system be accessed and utilized in 20, 30, 40 years? If you are a famous photographer in the art world or publication circuit, perhaps your most popular images are not necessarily your favorite images. I suppose your photographic assets need to be factored into your estate planning just as much as your financial assets. I doubt many of us will have a foundation to manage our photographs as mentioned in the podcast.
Software based image management has certainly helped greatly in managing digital files. Programs like Lightroom are wonderful tools for the here and now, when we need to access our OWN images. What about 40 or 100 years from now? The assumption of course is that whatever system is used, it is continually updated to grow with technology. How relevant will keywording be? Will the Internet be the ultimate archive? Is it too egotistical to think that any images will be of any historical significance or value whatsoever? It helps to know that we are not swimming alone in this digital revolution.
I know if I am dead and immediate family is gone, no one will be paying my web hosting fees, and the images on this site will disappear into the great cyber-trashcan. Even published images, unless in some book of historical significance, will be needles in a haystack. The prints I have sold will be around here and there – who knows exactly how many will exist over the next century. For the most part, I think general access to anyone’s image collection will be directly from where the originals are stored. Think about it though – of all the photographs ever taken over the past 100 years, how many do we actually have access to view? I think digital formats and the Internet will change this greatly. Perhaps we will see an emergence of public domain estate vaults?
Whatever your method of organization and archiving, it becomes very interesting to contemplate its scope when you change the perspective of time, and if someone else will be using it other than yourself. A big thanks to George Jardine and his colleagues for publishing a great conversation.
November 19th, 2007 at
This is a tough issue. I’ve been struggling with the long term archiving of digital information for many years now as my day job at a medical lab entails retaining and retrieving medical records for regulatory and clinical needs.
As a computer wonk I came up with my own numbering, storage, and indexing system for my photographs. It works for me, but I probably should think some about how intuitively obvious it might (or more likely might not be) for anyone else.