I second his opinion. No point to take the 15 million's photo of the eiffel tower. Loved ones of course. But also the street! What I find the most interesting in old family pictures is a window into how people I know, or only apart by only one degree of separation, lived at a completely different time. What seemed mundane at the time is often the most amusing a century later. That's also what I like in old movies. Like just the streets of Paris in the early 70s look foreign to a modern eye. Hardly any traffic, you could park anywhere, hardly any advertising boards.
>No point to take the 15 million's photo of the eiffel tower. //
One proviso to this - it's a travel record.
The next picture is a couple standing at the door to an apartment... but where is it... 'oh yeah Paris; your mother and i visited college friends. Forgot we'd even been there'.
Sure, way better with a person on the frame, but recognisable landmarks can still have utility in a photo collection.
I was working through my parent's slides and found pictures of St.Marks square -- didn't even know they had been to Italy.
For capturing memories, try to think about photos in small series...
Family at a Metro stop
Generic Eiffel Tower photo
Family at Eiffel Tower
Family eating a baguette walking down a random street
Etc.
As you say, they all provide context and often tell more of a story than a single candid of the family.
