Method
Files often survive longer than the context that gives them meaning. A series may remain visible and still become hard to interpret if authorship, intent, place, rights, and relationships disappear.
Describe the work, not only the file
Useful documentation answers simple questions: who, what, where, when, how, and why. These fields make a series searchable and understandable outside the memory of the person who created it.
Use stable identifiers
File names change. A persistent inventory number can link a work to variants, prints, exhibitions, and rights without depending on storage location.
Keep relationships visible
Versions, RAW+JPEG pairs, selections, and collection membership explain how images relate to each other. Obscura Catalog records them: it links a RAW to its same-name JPEG at import, notes a file’s earlier versions, and lets a file belong to several collections.
Make the method repeatable
The goal is not to fill every field. It is to apply a clear baseline consistently enough that future users can understand the series.