I sold a house by taking my own photos but suspect not many people do that.
I don't care about flowers, fruit bowls or whether there are photos about. I am looking for damp, leaking windows or roof, age of wiring, drain problems, whether the rooms are big enough for a decent sized bed, whether the boiler is a crap one, how big the garden is, whether there was a septic tank or an oil tank, likelihood of flooding, plus any sign of neighbour problems. I hate those arty farty photos of a daffodil in a vase or a bit of a fancy window.
I have been put off due to an unflushed toilet, left open and stinking the room out, reed diffusers and plug in fresheners, had to leave the house as they made me feel ill, a burned out car nearby, a clearly broken drain which no-one would admit to, smells of damp, spray on loft insulation stuff which hid any sign of roof problems from inside, things that would need looking for rather than a bowl of fruit or a few fancy cushions on the bed.
Nice photos help but no need to strip the life out of it, not too much junk around and clean and tidy is fine for me, and a lot of people look at the dressing and then come back later to complain about the structure, size of rooms, how old the carpets are etc. I am buying a house, not a hotel room or magazine set.