We ’ ve all got photographs that bring back happy memories and for those that are cringeworthy or upsetting , there ’ s always the detag or delete button , or the bin . However , one US artist is asking members of the public to send him images they just can ’ t live with before they delete them or instead of binning them – with no explanation attached . It makes for an intriguing and harrowing display . Chicago-based Jason Lazarus , 39 , began the project – an online archive called T.H.T.K , or Too Hard To Keep - in 2010 and now has over 150 photographs that include a huge range of scenes . With some , the reason for the owner wanting to purge it is easy to fathom . For instance , the collection contains photographs of a blood-soaked leg , a female with a black eye and a corpse . Others are more mysterious . One member of the public sent in a picture taken from a veranda of a man walking across a road and another submitted an image of a wooden pole on a beach . Mr Lazarus told MailOnline that the idea for the project began when he thought about why he kept photographs that held bad memories . He said : ‘ I had the idea for the archive when reflecting on the charge or anxiety holding on to certain photographs brought me . I started asking friends and friends of friends if they had photographs too hard to keep , and the response was powerful - the project started to grow itself . ‘ It often did n't need much explanation , people got it. ’ The artist believes the absence of descriptions won ’ t matter to the archive ’ s visitors . He said : ' I respect viewers ' abilities to openly engage the images in the context of their own lives and their life experiences . ' Some of the images are very moving and Mr Lazarus , who has two of his own in the collection , has to suppress his emotions on occasions . He said : ‘ Because it is my job to work on projects like these I compartmentalize for the sake of the larger growth of the project . Overall , the project continues to teach me and hopefully its audience , which significantly lessens any load. ’ For him it ’ s the photographs of violence and empty landscapes that stand out . He said : ‘ I can easily project myself into those narratives. ’ Some photographs are just too harrowing for the senders to ever see again . As a result some images are displayed face down . So far , nothing has been sent in that 's too disturbing to display , but Mr Lazarus , an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Chicago 's School of the Art Institute , emphasizes that 'part of the project is to occasionally view harrowing images ' . He explained that hopefully the repository will be updated indefinitely . He said : ‘ I even have a fellow artist who will take over the project in case anything awful happens to me . I think it 's important the trust imparted to me is reciprocated to the participants. ’ Contributors to T.H.T.K come from all over the world , from a huge variety of cultures . Mr Lazarus said : ‘ I ’ m hoping to reach anyone who feels the project gives them a sense of grace or greater meaning by participating. ’ It certainly seems to be working , with the artist adding that reaction to the project has been 'strong ' . The photographs have been put on public display in several cities around the world , including the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago , Future Gallery in Berlin , the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco and Gallery TPW in Toronto . Some respondents had photographs that were so upsetting for them that they did n't want them displayed ever again - so these appear face-down in the archive . A photograph of a newly arrived submission for the project . Some of the T.H.T.K images have been displayed in public including at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago .
Berlin-based artist Jason Lazarus has a project called Too Hard To Keep . It 's an online archive display images members of the public have sent him . They are all photographs that they found too upsetting to keep . None of the photographs displayed in T.H.T.K carry an explanation .