Yes, some for of tagging or keywords would be very helpful.
I am creating an multi-year gallery with year, month, and day--easiest for the 10K plus images I plan on adding. But, aside from looking into each, it will be a nightmare for users to find particular pictures. To alternatively organize pictures by topic, location, or person(s) would take too long and raise its own challenges.
Thus, if I can input all of my pictures then, as time permits, view and add tags or keywords, e.g., "Italy, Rome, Bibi, Matthew", "Alexander, Birthday", "Benjamin, Baptism". I'd then be able over time to provide more accessible identification of images. In adding tags or keywords, a batch process (maybe marking one or more images in an album and applying tags to them, would be extremely helpful.
And for users, a simple search by tag(s) or keyword(s) with simple wildcards and maybe filtering to narrow search down if necessary.
Again, for me to simply enter my pictures by year, month, day taken is absolutely the fastest, then tags or keywords to allow search and filtering.
Thanks,
Matthew