Of course photographs will vary according to their purpose. The most precious photo we have here is a 3 1/2 x 3 1/2 inch print from an old 126 cartridge camera. It shows my wife's granny, her mother, herself, and our first daughter as an infant. Four generations of the female line of one family. The photo is browning with age but it's worth far more to us that any of the "artistic" ones I try to produce, especially now that the two older ones are no longer with us.

On the other hand, I belong to a club which does a lot of competitive stuff. Of course the images put in for that are going to be judged by a very different set of criteria. If I dare to enter the world of competitive photography then I am, by definition, entering into a world where images will be judged by quite strict criteria of technical and compositional excellence.

Does that mean that my family image is "better" than a perfect art photo? Or vice versa?

Of course not. They have different functions and I, for one, am glad that photography has room for both the pursuit of artistic merit AND the storage of precious memories.

Cheers
Mike