IDguy Loc: Idaho

Research says so:

https://curiosity.com/topics/to-remember-your-vacation-forget-your-camera-curiosity-13251805?utm_campaign=daily-digest&utm_source=sendgrid&utm_medium=email

Retired CPO Loc: Travel full time in an RV

Well there you go. A good argument against phone cameras. The article said taking "unmindful" photos, which is the best definition of cell phone photography I've heard. Taking a photo after considering what lens to use at what setting, backgrounds, foregrounds, bokeh, DOF etc is a long ways from "unmindful" taking of photos.

boydcrochet

Wait, they give them an unfamiliar device to interact with while they take an educational tour? The "researcher" does nothing to account for the inherent distraction. Why not give the control group a puppy? Is the device the issue or photography?

Let's go down the road aways. Think about the vacation you took 10 years ago. Now correlate those memories with the photographs you occassionally view. Yeah most of us have weak recall.

Harvey Loc: Pioneer, CA

I did not read this article as for one who traveled for many years without a camera or with the very basic point and shoot - not getting anything near quality 'keepers' - 'Then' traveling with a SLR kit and then a quality bridge - WOW -now that is where great memories started to get 'back up' and of course now I travel with 2 DSLRs and a nice kit in a backpack/camera bag.
And yes - at the end of a trip it is time to sort the random shots from the keepers.

LA Loc: Little Rock, AR

A scan of the actual study suggests two things: 1) that it is a pretty good study, although the number of subjects is smallish...130 subjects for the part of the study where one's memory for touring with and without cameras is tested a week later...that is a small number especially when trying to detect a small difference in memory, and 2) we might expect a very different result, reversed perhaps, if the memory test had been done a month or a year after the church tour when memory from the time of the tour would have faded while memory from photos taken might have remained fairly constant (depending on how much and whether they have been reviewed, printed out or otherwise displayed. Note that there was no difference in memory if zoom cameras were used thereby allowing focussing (the camera and the mind) on details of the scene.
I have lots of personal data - memory and the lack of it - to support the claim that "if I didn't take photos, it didn't happen."

IDguy Loc: Idaho

I like the puppy idea...

Retired CPO Loc: Travel full time in an RV

Me too. What kind of puppy, by the way?

Fotoartist Loc: Detroit, Michigan

If you take photos fine, but if you don't look at the photos you take while you are taking them or afterward you won't remember squat.

olemikey Loc: 6 mile creek, Spacecoast Florida

I always travel with my puppy, and still take photos, and still remember the trip, always enjoy...... go figure......

traderjohn Loc: New York City

Do you really think people are going to stop taking pictures with their cell phones?? Cell phones produce good to very good pictures. Same as DSLR's. It all depends on the person behind the camera.
What part of the decline in DSLR sales would you attribute to cell phones?

RodeoMan Loc: St Joseph, Missouri

Very interesting. I guess we could carry this to its logical conclusion. If photographing a place, person or event lessens our memories of it, then let's just remember our weddings, family reunions, Bar Mitzvahs, children's stage and sporting events. I am not being serious here. I think that photography can serve as an index to our memories. The problem is not that too many photographs are being made, but that too many are left on sd cards, various drives and the cloud where they will remain and will not make it to a photo album or even a shoe box for someone in the future to appreciate and, perhaps, even learn from.

JohnSwanda Loc: San Francisco

Growing up, my family took yearly road trip vacations all over the US. My father documented them shooting slides with a rangefinder 35mm camera, and was very good at editing them into slide shows. We still view them occasionally, and they do help us recall those good times.

Harry0 Loc: Gardena, Cal

Yeah, but ... a lot of us are getting old(er)
There are some people in those old photos that I don't remember.
Tho some I do, only when I see the photos again.
Tell those kids to *print* the good pics, date them and name the people.

Looking at pictures of my grandparent's grandparents, with my grandchildren, was "special".
These had dates and a little blurb on the back. WW1 uniforms. Houses- no heat, AC or electricity.
Sitting with young bride and groom, he exclaims "Who's the hottie?". Yup, Mom-in -law, @ 16.
Sharing these memories, not just for myself, is the reward.
With copies of keepers in *their* wedding album, the memories- and stories- live on.