This seems to happen also with 0.20.1-0ubuntu1 in Utopic. I've linked the upstream bug report for this.
** Bug watch added: GNOME Bug Tracker #739504 https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=739504 ** Also affects: shotwell via https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=739504 Importance: Unknown Status: Unknown -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Desktop Packages, which is subscribed to shotwell in Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1387777 Title: it does "updateing library" for about a minute and then closes the program Status in Shotwell: Unknown Status in “shotwell” package in Ubuntu: Confirmed Bug description: It does "updating library" for a minute and then closes the shotwell program. Also there are no photo's just grey rectangles. ProblemType: Bug DistroRelease: Ubuntu 14.04 Package: shotwell 0.18.0-0ubuntu4.2 ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.13.0-39.66-generic 3.13.11.8 Uname: Linux 3.13.0-39-generic x86_64 ApportVersion: 2.14.1-0ubuntu3.5 Architecture: amd64 CurrentDesktop: Unity Date: Thu Oct 30 17:30:17 2014 InstallationDate: Installed on 2014-04-22 (190 days ago) InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 14.04 LTS "Trusty Tahr" - Release amd64 (20140417) SourcePackage: shotwell UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install) To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/shotwell/+bug/1387777/+subscriptions -- Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~desktop-packages Post to : desktop-packages@lists.launchpad.net Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~desktop-packages More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp