Yes, it does add something. To be vain about it, there's enough drama and messiness in day-to-day life. I don't want to be reminded of that when I look back; I

Yes, it does add something. To be vain about it, there's enough drama and messiness in day-to-day life. I don't want to be reminded of that when I look back; I want to see the good parts, that it was all worthwhile. But, more practically even, photographs capture history. You may not be thinking about it when you're just taking a personal photo, but a fair bit of history does come from personal collections. Especially less significant figures or events where those personal artifacts are the only things that even exist. Its difficult to gain much useful information when the images are blurry, distorted, or covered in shadow. You may appreciate the funny face, but can a historian or a great-great-grandchild confirm the person in the photo when they are covering half their face in a sneeze? That said, the pendulum definitely swings in the other direction, too. Despite all the information we gather these days, there may be less meaningful history for the next several decades because you simply can't trust any of it is actually genuine.