At the same time we won't see any photos of Brian regularly going bowling with the Rovell family during the Smile era...
I'd say the odds on seeing that are much more friendly than the odds of seeing one of Brian in a psych ward. My point is people tend to take photos of happy times, public times, times when they are ready to be seen. If there are 27 photos of happy Brian in 1968 its likely he'll be meeting and greeting and doing regular normal human pop star stuff in them. There will not be any fetal position screaming at the audio hallucination demons to leave him alone photos. Therefore the happy ones that counter all the books, documentaries and articles do enlighten... but to what degree? None of us have an exactly accurate gauge, but my gut feeling says don't give them too much weight.
I'd tend to agree and definitely feel the same way, but at the same time using my analogy of Brian's Smile dinner party, Jules Siegel just happened to write about that in detail and I'd guess readers have the image in their heads of Brian hosting these far-out gatherings almost as a norm rather than the exception. Yet how many accounts are there of Brian sitting down to a plate of meatloaf and mashed potatoes or something else ordinary where he didn't orchestrate a symphony of dishes and silverware? The accounts which back up the "myth" of Smile being a psychedelic Bacchanalia will naturally be remembered more than the day-to-day accounts of songwriting, recording, bowling, and everyday life which occupied Brian's time.
I think *some* - and I say that with caution - some of the history put forth in documentaries going back to the 70's takes a broad-brush approach, where a statement like "Brian stayed in bed" can be used to duck not only the negatives of being hospitalized and receiving treatment but also the more positive parts like recording in the studio, greeting fans at a 1968 show, and going to premieres and other events with his wife and friends.
It is indeed very hard to weigh it all out, and perhaps it may be impossible to do so in the history of this band given the past several decades where contradictions are the order of the day.