I think the initial photo should be of an "example" color -- whichever one you choose -- with a list of alternate colors in the title and tags for searches. For the Alice quote, I'd go with something with a bit more color, since I think that fits the quote nicely, but for others you might pick a traditional black or brown.
Your second photo could then be the whole variety.
And each listing can have the variations in a drop-down menu (or people can include their selection in purchase order notes if you don't have that or don't want it for some reason), which is exactly what that feature's for.
I've had a great time with variations -- it really cuts down on the hassle of customers needing to contact me to be clear on which color or frame they're attempting to choose, and when I get around to it, it will really streamline my listings. I don't think you'll need 8 separate listings, particularly as customers become more savvy to the variations feature (it's standard on T-shirt-selling websites, for instance -- everybody knows they're going to be able to choose their size and often color).
On the other hand, since it's only 20 cents, you might want to try an experiment and put up 2 identical listings, but with two different first photos, and see which one gets more views, favorites and purchases! (I'd be very interested to hear the results of that!)
