Should You Minimise Your Photos? Here's Why!
The average US adult has 3000 photos stored on their phone. But do we reflect on the photos we have taken, and what is their environmental cost?
According to a study by Fujifilm, the average 18-24-year-old has between 3,000 and 5,000 images on their phone. This works out to 10 billion photos held by 18-24-year-olds in the UK! A second study involving 2,000 people from America also revealed that the average person nearly 3,000 photos.
With over 71% of us using cloud storage to store our photos, do we take a moment to consider how the photos we take effect the environment?
When it comes to decluttering, we frequently consider the tangible items that can be touched. As a consequence, digital clutter can frequently accumulate, which is why I previously focused on decluttering emails. While most emails won't induce positive memories, photos can.
Throughout the course of this post, you will gain an insight into the reasons that led to minimising my photo stream, the methodology I employed, the methods you can employ, and the subsequent consequences.
Why I minimised my photos
Digital photos offer us the opportunity to practice without any cost if we fail. Simply hit delete and try again. Additionally, we can easily edit, crop and share photos online. While it is easy to delete an image, only a quarter of respondents delete additional shots they take, with fewer than one in six (16%) citing environmental motives. My goal was to reduce images I didn't find inspiring and at the same time save storage space, thus, reducing the environmental cost.
When To Minimise Your Photos?
The same study by Fujifilm asked 2,000 British adults about their photo habits when transferring devices. It was found that 71% of UK adults do not organise or filter their photos when transferring existing images onto a new phone. Given that this is a good opportunity to get the data on your phone transferred quicker, perhaps the endorphins of holding a new device and wanting to set it up could be holding us back. Therefore, I minimise my photos whenever I have time and feel in the mood. Reflecting back on old images allows us to relive moments, and often it could help us to relax. However, too many photos, which are not organised, may invoke stress or conceal memories.
The Carbon Cost
According to the Institution of Engineering and Technology, duplicate or unwanted images left in storage alone could accumulate 10.6 kg of CO2 emissions annually for every adult in the UK. The study found that our duplicate photos equate to more than 112,500 return flights from London to Perth, Australia.
The Physical Cost
Our demand for more storage can cost us up to £60/year. This roughly equates to a national average of £300 million spent each year to add additional data for image storage. Keep the money, save your storage and unlock more memories.
Before I minimised my photos
The majority of photos I take are of nature, of which a small selection I have shared on Pixelfed. Through the use of digital photos, we can keep shooting until we have the perfect moment. I routinely captured multiple images while using my digital SLR camera, enabling me to search for the ideal moment when I retrieve the SD card at home. Until recently, I would often allow the duplicate photos to accumulate.
I will admit that I have approximately 800 photos stored in the cloud, far less than the average, though many of mine are taken through my DSLR. Before I merged both streams of photos together, my low number meant I never really thought about reducing them. People on the opposite end of the spectrum might feel overwhelmed and wonder how many pictures they have if they haven't checked yet.
How I minimised my photos
Having settled on a new photo storage solution (as discussed earlier), I exported my photos. If you wish to change apps, it is best to minimise your images before exporting. This will help upload the images faster. However, if you are comfortable with your current app of choice, it is time to declutter.
I spent some time figuring out where I kept my photos; I had 800 in Apple Photos, over a thousand on SD cards, and an external drive. By knowing where I stored photos, I was able to set targets and make sure I did a good job. Having some photos in the cloud and some on a hard drive, I opted to keep them separate for now. Personally, I felt I would be more satisfied of achieving two smaller goals than one massive goal, which could overwhelm me. This allowed me to create targets which I could tick off, which instil the feeling of accomplishment.
I began by looking at the majority of images at a glance; if any images caught my eye, I would click on them. Perhaps the images were sentimental, goofy, or unusual. Utilising the gallery view, which is supported by many photo apps, made this process simpler. I also ensured that I did not put myself under any time pressure, so I did not make irrational decisions like having to delete 100 images in one hour.
When I clicked on a memory, I would subconsciously know if it made me happy. If it invoked a positive memory, I kept the photo, if I disliked the photo, I also asked myself “if I lost it would I care?”, if yes, keep, if not delete. While many providers offer 30 days to restore photos, going back on what you deleted could undermine your initial judgement.
I repeated the same task for the photos taken on my DLSR camera, eliminating additional images, as I frequently capture duplicate photographs, often from several angles. Any blurry photos were deleted, and images that were similar, were reviewed to choose the best one. During the process of deleting my photos, I noticed how my photography had developed, with some pictures I had once taken are not my current style.
It is worth noting, while I did both on the same day, you may wish to separate them out. If you have numerous printed photos, a wide open space would be advised for you to spread the images out. If they are organised, consider going through an album at a time.
How I organised my photos
After minimising the photos and importantly keeping work related photos stored elsewhere, (who wants to be told 2 years ago you took this photo in the office) I wanted a way to easily access my memories. Some people prefer digital storage while others prefer the tactile physical approach. My method works for both. I created folders for holidays, events such as weddings, prom, graduation and added a date. If you go to the same holiday destination for a few years, this will help. Going one further, you can add who's wedding and the dates you attended. The albums provided me with the opportunity to recall certain memories, thereby enhancing my likelihood of revisiting them.
On top of this, some photos apps can recognise faces and group people together, which allows you a different way of organising. Many photos apps allow you to favourite your best photos; however, it can be easy to get carried away and end up with hundreds of favourite photos.
Some photo apps, such as Ente which I am now using, allow you to add a description to each image, which can later be used as a search term. I have considered this approach by adding generic terms such as flower, landscape etc to images, however I am yet to try this approach.
How I feel after minimising my photos
By reducing the number of photos and organising them, I was able to appreciate the memories, a task that may have been challenging if there were too many. Since organising my pictures, I have shown my parents memories, and discussed what we did. This is the sole purpose of pictures, we have photos of friends, places, food, pets and more, and we probably have more photos that bring us positive rather than negative emotions.
Though not all photos brought back memories, one example was the food we had eaten, while the plates of food looked nice, I couldn't remember why we ate out on the occasion, perhaps linking back to this study. By clearing out some of my photos it has made me consider do I need that as a memory, if yes, take a photo, if not I have saved myself repeating the same process again in the future.
The practice of creating a folder for every holiday and special occasion is important once you've sorted all your photos. As your journey continues, you may decide to improve or relax your organising situation as your needs change. As mentioned earlier, I am yet to tag my photos, which would strengthen my organisation; however, I may decide it is not worth the time and relax my organising and stick with my current approach. With digital memories being important to us, keeping a backup is important, or knowing how to export all your photos easily from your current provider, something that Ente does well.
