Photos tell a story of another time…

I’ve been sorting and deleting over 5000 photos…with the intent of getting down to the most meaningful or creative 1000 or so. It’s a difficult task for a number of reasons. First of all, it tells the tale of so much of your life…and you don’t want to move too fast. Second, some of those stories are from another time and it’s just a little emotional. And lastly, deciding which photos stay is choosing what to say goodbye to certain things.

Two years ago all the Kim pictures came down from the room…   After a second date with RD last year, when she found out about this website, I distinctly recall moving “Kim” from a top-level-folder to the category “Friend.” RD even pointed out that she was looking at the site while it was happening… I also remember around the same time that her site took the word “boyfriend” out of the Jared folder description… But when I moved to my new place and had room for photos I did go ahead and put up a Kim photo. It was proportionate to the current role she played.

I bring up all this pathetic (in)significance because I have hundreds of Kim photos…but I can’t decide what their role ought to be in the “final 1000.” This isn’t meant to be a personal harangue or a trip down memory lane. The number of photos probably is proportionate to her significance, but (a) it’s of a time now past and (b) I question whether a public website ought to take a stance on one’s present much like the photos displayed around the house.

I don’t really know the right answer to this quandary, but I think when I finish sorting (probably still have 20 or so hours to go) I’ll probably decide against keeping all those photos in the public eye. I’m a different person. Those photos are from a different time. And even if she was photogenic and I did take a lot of pictures, it’s not who I am now and there’s no reason to showcase it.

I guess the one lesson learned from all this is that when you make an archive of your life it really can capture it, for better or worse. Moving on…