“In fact I no longer value this kind of memento. I no longer want reminders of what was, what got broken, what got lost, what got wasted. There was a period, a long period, dating from my childhood until quite recently, when I thought I did.  A period during which I believed that I could keep people fully present, keep them with me, by preserving their mementos, their “things,” their totems.”
– – – Joan Didion, Blue Nights

Another striking Joan Didion quote I ran across just after the recently completed task of getting the Afghanistan 1975 photos posted here. So, how many of the photographs constitute creative expression and how many are an attempt to “capture the moment” and preserve it as a keepsake or totem? Do the photographs have a current purpose or do they only represent an attachment to things past? Which of the things of the past should be preserved and which are better discarded?

I am without answers on these questions but I think the issues raised in the Joan Didion quote are significant.