It used to be you could find a box of photos or keepsakes that you inherited to look back on how things were or when you were a kid. Now, most of that is stored on phones, and most parents probably don’t think to share or save them in a way to be passed down in the future.
Yes; that’s what happened before digital photos. They were called “photo albums” and you only put the good pictures in them (while arching or throwing out the rest).