What will happen to your negatives in "the end"?

[John Layton]

This is one of those threads that I tend to circle around for a bit...and I think I'll continue circling for the time being.

But in the meantime...Linhofbiker I am so sorry for your loss.

[Bernice Loui]

Negatives and resulting images ... their value based on creative/expressive content ~or~ perceived value of it's creator's symbol of worth/fame _?_

Disputed Ansel Adam's negatives from years ago.. much about who gains _$_ from creative work:
https://veritasbusinesslaw.com/trade...ams-negatives/

https://news.artnet.com/art-world/co...ns-ugly-108004


Bernice

[Mark Sawyer]

All this is a simple reminder that perhaps the greatest advancement in digital photography is the "delete all" button.

[rfesk]

Most of my photography consists of family photos and photos of buildings, businesses etc in my small town taken for archival purposes. The project is to organize and catalog them such that they are easy to identify.

[jnantz]

A more important question is "does it matter what happens to your negatives when you're dead and gone?" For the vast majority of us, its not going to matter one way or the other.

Pretty much summed it up ..

[John Kasaian]

This is so depressing I'm going to pour myself an ample Brandy, LOL!

[Mark Sawyer]

This is so depressing I'm going to pour myself an ample Brandy, LOL!

At least your family won't have to worry about any Brandy being left behind...

[r_a_feldman]

“Because of the many pictures I have of my father, he eludes me completely. In my outrageously disloyal memory he does not exist in three dimensions, or with associated smells or timbre of voice. He exists as a series of pictures…I don’t have a memory of the man; I have a memory of a photograph. I rush upstairs to the scrapbooks and there he is. I’ve lost any clear idea of what my father really looked like, how he moved, sounded; the him-ness of him. I only have this. <photo of her father in shirtsleeves>”

Excerpt From
Hold Still: A Memoir with Photographs
Sally Mann

Not withstanding the above, I have and keep a number of pictures of my parent and grandparents, both prints and negatives. I think one of my two sons will appreciate what I have kept. As far as photographs related to my work as an archaeologist, I am in the process of documenting them and getting them to the archives of the museum where I worked.

[r.e.]

As far as photographs related to my work as an archaeologist...

Maybe it's just me, but I got a chuckle from that

[Alan Klein]

Yes, but at what point does one stop? The thought I was posing in the initial post was really one of historical use, family value and the general fun (or commercial value) we all derive from photography and our negatives. No one except my family who have watched me for hours waiting for the right light or traveling 300 miles just to capture a certain scene will appreciate it. They certainly won't print the negatives.

Burning the negatives (per a Will) is interesting. We saw Brett Weston do this with little affect on the value of his prints or (IMHO) his notoriety. Not that either mattered to him in the end but he did have a plan. I have 12 of his prints and don't expect to sell or get rid of them as I think they are some of the best work out there. My kids may enjoy seeing them on their walls in the future but they will doubtfully assign any aesthetic or monetary value to them. I suspect my images will have a greater value to them than anything I've collected so that's something.

Ask your kids which photos they might like to see you print so they can put them up on their walls. Make photo albums of family pictures and give to them. These are the things most people care about preserving.