As my wife’s parents move, and since my own parents are gone, there are many photographs that are floating in limbo. I’ve been scanning them under the assumption that digital storage won’t fade and disappear the way silver halide prints do (of course Kodachrome—no longer available—was the one method that provided permanent, beautiful, colorful images). Now the “experts” (hereafter referred to as “them”) recommend printing out all images, because digital images will disappear.
I like seeing photographs of my great-grandfather because I was named after him, and he was the first of the Nowaks to come to America. My great-great-great aunt Matilda (if I even have one)? Not so much.
Not every picture is a treasure, but then some are. The trick is separating the wheat from the chafe.
So when all is said and done, we mere humans need to ———
Guess.
sfnowak 