I also have the need for an alternative to google photo. What I need:
- auto upload from phones,
- e2e encryption with safety to recover keys over long period/lost hardware/etc
- top notch redouncy/archiving/etc (I really don't want to lost that, and if I loose something, at least not all photos)

- share, with two flavors: either to some people only, or with a public link.
- possibility to scroll among all photo (at least the last few months up to 18 months),
- create (sharable or not) albums
- ***tag photos*** (just little tag that I can use then to filter photo - typically, I take photo of planning/phone number of doctors, I never need them but for when I really need it and can't remember time/date of the photo)

I don't care about search, tool to enhance photo (perhaps - just perhaps - croping - but I can do it with one of the million apps specialized in photo edition).
I don't really care about comments in shared item.
The core priority is safety, privacy, sharable.

Would like my phone to automatically backup all my photos to my protonmail e-mail (just like gmail)

For iOS and Android! :)

I agree with this idea, But I believe there should be a free tier that compresses your photos. like 1080p photos and 720p video. This way it can still be viewable and clear. and people who can't afford a monthly payment can get out of googles grasp. I can't trust myself with files so I need to store my photos my memories on the cloud.

I need to store all my photos in the cloud, Because I am not trustworthy with keeping files, I am using google photos right now but they view all your photos and use facial recognition, Can you please make a version of google photos. It does not need to be encrypted, It just needs to not be read by employees and not have any facial recognition. Please add onto this idea.
Ideas:
Free tier: Unlimited Compressed 1080p photos unlimited Compressed 720p video
Basic: $4 a month Unlimited Compressed 1440p photos unlimited Compressed 1080p video
Plus $8: Unlimited Compressed 4k photos unlimited Compressed 1440p video
VISIONARY $24 Includes Protonvpn Visionary and Protonmail Visionary Unlimited uncompressed videos and photos up to 4k

You can compress photos and videos to take up less space well still retaining a lot of the detail and resolution. I would recommend doing that to save money.
(Please approve upon this idea, Change up anything you like about it, The only thing I want is a free tier. Thank you)

The photo resolutions are higher because they take up less space, And the avg smartphone these days takes photos of 4024x4024. So downscaling it to 1080p should be fine.
Example iPhone 7/galaxy s7

It would be fantastic to make a full switch from google. This includes mail and storage, primarily photos. It would be good to pay for storage to store apps and sync photos to them knowing that they are secure.