Hi Peter, let us wait for someone familiar with this game. I looked at three different walkthroughs and although they all mention picking up the camera initially, none of them mention anything else about it, at least so far as I can determine.
However, if you are playing the GOG version, their technical pages about the game say this:
The Photo Album might not be displayed correctly on Windows 8 and Windows 10.
The Photo Album is not required to finish the game, it works as an in-game print-screen feature and may be used instead of taking hand notes in some cases.
If the Photo Album doesn't display properly, taking a screenshot via Windows may replace this functionality. On Windows 8 and Windows 10 screenshoots are automatically saved in Pictures/Screenshots by pressing Windows Key + PrintScreen buttons.