...taking a photo undermines your memory (Page 6): Pray tell what those initials mean. Please. Thanks.

dumbo

Pray tell what those initials mean. Please. Thanks.

twillsol Loc: St. Louis, MO

ppage wrote:

Rubbish. The very act of recognizing the scene or... (show quote)

I agree!

jwest Loc: South Dakota

DWHart24 wrote:

I agree with that article to a certain degree. I shoot a lot of airshows and at times I find myself thinking what it would be like to just watch the show without worrying about getting the shot. It is hard to "take it all in" when you are concentrating on "getting the shot".

I agree that in an action event you lose the perspective of what is happening around you. I shoot dog shows and completely miss the action, judging, and winners because I’m concentrating on specific dogs and shots. Landscape or static shots I think it works the other way.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Writers get paid to write, regardless of the validity of the article.

Personally, I find myself more engaged with what I photograph than that which I just observe.
--Bob

kjfishman wrote:

We get magazine called Bottom Line. What do you think about the small article...taking a photo undermines your memory ? My wife suggested I take too many photos.

DWHart24 Loc: Central Florida

jwest wrote:

I agree that in an action event you lose the perspective of what is happening around you. I shoot dog shows and completely miss the action, judging, and winners because I’m concentrating on specific dogs and shots. Landscape or static shots I think it works the other way.

Yes, I agree, it does depend on the subject and what you're are shooting.

donrosshill Loc: Delaware & Florida

Well said Jerry.
Don

gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast

Strong memories are associated with emotion. You will remember things that you're emotionally attached to. The goal in making a great photo is to be able to show the emotion you had and evoke that emotion in the viewer. The distraction of photographic technique and processes will be minimal in a scene that you're emotionally attached to. You'll remember it.

shangyrhee Loc: Nashville TN to Sacramento CA

BS for the serious photography but half truth for a snapper like me Hahaha. Shang

revhen Loc: By the beautiful Hudson

My experience has been just the opposite. As I organize photos after a trip my memory is reinforced as I think about where and when a certain shot was taken. My wife agrees: My slide shows reinforce or even help her realize where we have been and what we have seen.

anotherview Loc: California

You make two assertions:

(1) there is a great deal of truth in the fact that snapshots detract from the memory of an experience

(2) But those who take 1000’s of pictures of travel experiences definitely lose the depth of experience.

Please provide Web-links or citations to other sources which support your assertions.

dumbo wrote:

Despite all the responses of “rubbish”, there is a... (show quote)

cr1218

“Seventy-five years ago, tourism was about experience-seeking. Now it’s about using photography and social media to build a personal brand. In a sense, for a lot of people, the photos you take on a trip become more important than the experience.”
article about "overtourism": https://centralnewsnow.com/2018/08/overtourism-worries-europe-how-much-did-technology-help-get-us-there/

Picture Taker Loc: Michigan Thumb

It may reduce my memory but Photography keeps my mind sharp and alert to the world around me.

tommystrat Loc: Bigfork, Montana

I had a comment but I forgot what it was...

anotherview Loc: California

Impossible: "The goal in making a great photo is to be able to show the emotion you had and evoke that emotion in the viewer."

As photographers, we cannot put ourselves in the shoes of another to know what touches and moves him or her. But yes, the content of a photograph may affect the mood of the viewer beyond visual pleasure, yet the photographer cannot control this response.

As well, time and circumstance negate this platitude of photography; for example, who after a hundred years will know with any confidence what intention you had in mind when you released the shutter? It is more likely that the social environment of the time and place will influence the perception of the viewer, not something remote to him or her.

Trying to mold a photograph to function as a conduit for felt personal emotion from one to another both limits and distorts the singular purpose of photography as a visual medium of human expression.

gvarner wrote:

Strong memories are associated with emotion. You will remember things that you're emotionally attached to. The goal in making a great photo is to be able to show the emotion you had and evoke that emotion in the viewer. The distraction of photographic technique and processes will be minimal in a scene that you're emotionally attached to. You'll remember it.

Stephan G

anotherview wrote:

You make two assertions:

(1) there is a great deal of truth in the fact that snapshots detract from the memory of an experience

(2) But those who take 1000’s of pictures of travel experiences definitely lose the depth of experience.

Please provide Web-links or citations to other sources which support your assertions.

It comes down to one term. "Sensory Overload". There are many tomes, some centuries old, that speak of it. And many in the field of Psychology. (And a few in the field of Espionage along with sense deprivation.)

We need to define "memory of experience". It is too broad of a term. One may enjoy the minute of the experience just as one enjoying the expanse of the experience. The particulars of the memory vary.