“Describe this photo of John Mays”

ChatGPT: In this photo, we have a classic snapshot of radio broadcasting history. There’s a person operating a turntable in a radio station studio, which suggests this might be a DJ or a radio technician from the bygone era of analog broadcasting. The studio equipment, including the large control panel with various switches and knobs, the overhead microphone, the headphones, and the vinyl records, all contribute to the vintage feel of the photo.

The individual is focused on their task, which could be cueing up a record or adjusting the levels for a live broadcast. This scene captures the essence of an era when radio was a primary source of entertainment and information, connecting listeners to a world beyond their immediate surroundings.

Flickr Batch Organizer

Flickr launched in February, 2004. I created an account and started uploading photos in March, 2005. So I guess I’m a long-time user. My primary photo repository is the Photos app on my MacBook (mirrored in my iCloud account): 2,449 photos. I make some effort to only save “keepers.” Flickr is where I post photos I’d like to share with the world. All under Creative Commons license for unrestricted use. I have about 2,500 photos in my photostream organized into albums and collections.

This 12 minute video (I know, too long) is a very cursory explanation of how I use Flickr’s Batch Organizer to manage photos.

Pixelmator Repair Tool

I’ve posted on this before it bears repeating. Barb’s visiting an old friend (Jeff Pylant) who took the selfie on the left in which his finger features prominently. Using the Repair Tool in Pixelmator (not Pixelmator Pro) it took less than 30 seconds to fix the image. Not a pro photographer fix but good enough.

When you have 10,000 photos it’s hard to care much about any one of them

We “took” photos differently when our cameras had a roll of film that could take 24 shots. And it would be days — later just 24 hours — before we got our prints back. That’s when we learned if we got the light right and everybody was ‘in’ the photograph. We didn’t snap photos back then. We positioned everyone. Said dumb shit to try to get them to smile. We worked at making the photograph. A little bit.

Today we one-hand the phone and fire off a burst of half dozen images and if they’re not very good they’ll scroll into oblivion in a few hours. We have no investment in such images. We have so many they’re like a wheelbarrow full of Reichsmarks in 1949. Or a pair of Imelda Marcos’ shoes.

What is the essence of a photograph?

The image would seem to be the obvious answer but I wonder if sharing isn’t an equally important component. Yes, you can take a photo and enjoy it without ever showing it to someone but that rarely happens. When photos were expensive and rare, we hung them on walls for all to see. As we accumulated more, we sat next to each other with an album in our lap, slowly turning pages. Or on the floor with a shoe box filled with “pictures.” I never cared much for carousels filled with 35mm slides. Trapped in a dark room, clicking through hundreds of photos of Old Faithful.

But now photos are cheap and easy. Like that girl in high school. We take thousands and dump them in the sky or cram them onto our phones drop them into a Facebook stream where they live for a few seconds then die. Marie Kondo asks, “Does this photo spark joy in your heart?” If not, give it away. I’ve done that with a life-time of prints. Feels good, like giving a dog you can’t care for to someone who lives on a farm.

There’s no way to share 10,000 photos.