"Taking photos can impair your memory of events" study contends.

[rbiemer]

My step mother retired from Binghamton but still sends me "stuff" from them is she thinks I'll find it interesting.
This link is what she just sent me:

https://www.binghamton.edu/news/story/3079/taking-photos-can-impair-your-memory-of-events

There is a caveat that the people who did the study offer about their results but I think the caveat should be the headline.
"The researchers note an important caveat in that they did not allow participants to review their photos, and so their findings only apply to a situation in which you take a photograph and never look at it again (which is probably the case for most of the photos stored on our phones)."
I will contend that what they researchers had the subject do is not actually photography and so the study is not really addressing what photography may or may not do to or for your memory.

Rob

 

[madNbad]

When Pope Francis visited Philadelphia in 2015, one of my favorite photos was of a large group standing behind a barricade with a variety of photo gear. Pro cameras with huge zoom lenses, every type of consumer camera and of course, cell phones. Amidst all of this there was one elderly lady, leaning on the barricade just gazing as the procession went by.

 

[rbiemer]

A part of my reply to mom's email:
Taking pictures the way they have the experiment set up leaves out quite a bit of what I consider to be photographing something.
As laid out in the article, the subjects were not giving any thought about why they were taking a particular photograph and, more critically, they were not allowed any interaction with their photos after clicking the shutter.
Under those circumstances, I am not surprised they didn't remember their subject well--they didn't really do the things a photographer does.

 

[charjohncarter]

Photography critics tear into famous photographs and I feel mostly give an interpretation that is their own. It is not the view of the photographer; it is used by the reviewer to input his own prejudices or put another way what he/she wants to see.

We all have photographs that WE have taken that we don't want to lose because of the memories they hold.

Mostly these critics and researchers come up with something like this:

At the most primitive photographic level, yes. But at the same time a process of intertexualizing is at work, so that not only the verbalization is transformed, but the received definition of the media-related categorization in which the opus partakes is challenged.

 

[dexdog]

The primary reasons that i take pictures on my travels is to spark memories, such as 50mph winds at the top of Mauna Loa in Hawaii, or the smell of the street food in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Every time I see the pics from Chiang Mai night market, I recall the smell and taste of the spectacular smoked shrimp sausage that I went back for 3 times. Like many studies, I think this one depends heavily on how the study was conducted, and how the questions were parsed. To be a jerk about it, I could not care less about why other folks take photos...I just remember being cold on top of Mauna Loa when the temp near sea level was 85F

 

[Bolo Kukus]

An interesting article - but it did leave me with mixed feelings.

The rather (to me anyway) silly rules imposed on the participants by the research experts made me wonder why they were so restrictive. Academic research can be rigorous (I have done my share of it, so I know of what I speak) but to be so dogmatic about rules and regulations made me wonder what they were trying to achieve - possibly gather "evidence" to prove predetermined conclusions?

I well realise the jury will likely be out on all these points. The important limitation, to me, is that participants could not review their photos. Why so?

The power of photo images to rekindle (and reinforce) memories is well known - and should not be underestimated.

Over the years (decades) the discussion point of the role/s of photography in memories has popped up, between photographers or in meetings of camera clubs/groups. Inevitably, various hypotheses, theories and (mostly) strongly felt opinions were expressed. Being me, I mostly agreed to disagree but otherwise avoided f the at times heated debates.

Throughout life I have used my photographs and the making thereof as a valuable "aide-memoire" to jog my memory on places, people and events. I also keep very detailed notebooks and two ongoing documents in my laptops as 'FotoTechnic' and 'Life Blog'. The former is full of notes, tips, data and formulas for obscure darkroom chemistry, little of which I use but it makes good reading on cold Covid nights. The latter is a compilation of my private thoughts, oft-revisited but with many deletes when newer/fresher ideas emerge or guilt-twinges click in.

All this keeps my memories fresh and my ageing brain-cells active.

This past week I have been reviewing and scanning old color slides I took during three visits to Bali in 1970, 1972 and 1974. Many long-forgotten events and people I met at those times have returned with such force that I am amazed all that information has remained in my brain cells. My first visit to that enchanted isle was as a naive tourist, but during my second and third sojourns I did several fairly extensive photo shoots of traditional dancers and dancing in the royal palace in Ubud. Miraculously, all those slides - including several rolls shot on Agfachrome which was notorious for early fading - have survived almost undamaged by time. I had several notebooks with detailed writing about events during my time there, but these disappeared long ago, likely disposed of during one of my many past moves. I now mentally kick myself for this, but...

 

[shimokita]

Does taking notes at a meeting impair your memory of the meeting...

Well, in my case, more-or-less intentionally... I take notes so I don't have to remember, I can and do refer to the notes. Memory can be very poor with events or discussions so careful (selective) note-taking (alt: photographing) helps with remembering, reconstructing, etc.

That doesn't that mean that I have to photograph everything, nor take notes continuously... in some cases, one use of, a photo is as a memory jogger... but it's not the only reason we take photographs.

.

 

[Archiver]

When Pope Francis visited Philadelphia in 2015, one of my favorite photos was of a large group standing behind a barricade with a variety of photo gear. Pro cameras with huge zoom lenses, every type of consumer camera and of course, cell phones. Amidst all of this there was one elderly lady, leaning on the barricade just gazing as the procession went by.

Oh, the self-referring irony that this was captured in a photo!

 

[Rob-F]

I don't think this result would hold up if additional experiments were done in an attempt to replicate this result, or if the methodology were to be changed to allow the photographers to look at their photos as we normally would. I think it's a case of the results being determined (biased) by the method. My wife always says I remember more than she does about our trips because I photograph.