Two kids down, I've found I still heavily dislike looking at those weird photos everyone seems to love to take, where everyone is just posed there side by side like in a school picture with a forced smile. All they end up reminding me is how mildly annoying taking said picture was.
However, I love looking back at those "in action" pictures. The ones where people are laughing, talking with each other, looking at stuff, playing games, going places, etc. The ones where people are acting naturally, sometimes even unaware they're being posed. Those definitely bring back the memories. You see the emotion, the fun people are having. You get to see personalities, looks, mannerisms.
However, I love looking back at those "in action" pictures. The ones where people are laughing, talking with each other, looking at stuff, playing games, going places, etc.
We have one (and just one) such picture, and my parents have framed it on the wall. And it wasn't even shot at any special location, just a random roadside.
That's a pretty good point. A lot of people don't realise that even casual photography can serve a lot of roles, and a lot of "boring" photos can still be very useful. You might not even realise how useful the photos can be later. I've found some old photos of mine that don't really look like much at first glance, but there might be some detail in them that gives context for the rest of the image set.
For example, a lot of people take photos of their food. Some might say "well, that's a clearly pointless habit", but think about it this way - today, it can serve a journaling purpose (so what did we eat last week? stick these things in a food journal so you can get a better idea of your calorie intake?) and maybe later it can serve as historical evidence (okay, so what did we all eat 10 years ago? Remember when McD did this goofy campaign? etc etc)
Maybe you're right, I might appreciate it 30/40years down the road but definitely not 10 years. I have photos from 10 years back but I never look at them. They only stay because storage is cheap.
You will change, and places change. It’s amazing looking at things years later. I have a picture at the top of the Twin Towers in Manhattan in 2000 (and I was the kind of person who didn’t like to take pictures of myself while traveling).
Things you do now may be relevant in the future. And you probably underestimate the power of nostalgia. XDDD
Edit: btw, voted because this is a truly unpopular opinion. :)
Bro I see things on my Google photos frame from even 10 weeks ago and am like holy crap I totally forgot we did that. Life is so busy and so often shitty, it really is nice to get reminders that at least every now and then I made a memory that wasn't so bad. That's what the photos, even the lamest posed ones, do for me.
Heck, I just got back from a 10 day trip on the east coast. We did so much in so little time, but took plenty of photos. Now when I'm telling family about our vacation, I can bring them along through the pictures and they help me tell the story of what was happening in the moment.
Once you start losing contact with people and people start dying looking back at old photos can be a really nice way to spend an evening.
The photo itself might not be that interesting but it might remind you of something funny or interesting that happened that day so long ago you haven't thought of it for decades.