<text>  Weve all got photographs that bring back happy memories and for those that are cringeworthy or upsetting, theres 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 cant 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 didnt need much explanation, people got it. The artist believes the absence of descriptions wont matter to the archives 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 its 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 thats too disturbing to display, but Mr Lazarus, an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Chicagos 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 its 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: Im 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 didnt 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 . 