Forgetting to Remember

07Nov06

 KevinL

“It is only when they have the photos before their eyes that they seem to take tangible possession of the day spent … Everything else can drown in the unreliable shadow of memory” – Calvino Adventures of a Photographer 177

Photo: Arbron 

It seems that photography has become a crutch for the human memory. With photos we can forget a day’s events or forget the details of what something looked like at a particular moment in time. Photos can even provide more information for people but catching details someone may not have noticed without taking a picture. Is this really helping people though? It seems that if it gets to the point where every second a person takes a photograph  they are forgetting to live in the moment and are deciding to take a picture and then live in the moment, in the picture.

The picture above is of a woman taking a photograph of something else. This truly displays how people feel the need to capture particular items in an instant of time. The concentration in her face shows that she is thinking about how  what she is photographing looks, at what angle the photo would come out best, or if the lighting is good enough. When one begins to concentrate more on taking a picture of an experience, they begin to think about the photograph he or she is taking rather than the experience being photographed.

It is important to remember to experience things and remember those emotions felt when a particular event occurs. Photos are useful because they provide a physical memory to humans. One must not forget that a person has his or her own memory to rely on as well. When one forgets this, he or she then solely depends on photographs to provide them memories of his or her life. The things photographs cannot completely remember, such as emotions, or those items and events that may not have been photographed, are things a human memory may remember better. Photos may be able to provide the physical aspects of something but cannot capture those emotions felt. People should also try to remember to let events happen before making the event become the photograph being taken; taking photos of something without experiencing what is being photographed leaves the image useless in providing recollection to the viewer anyway.

Filed under: Assignments, Photography   |  12 Comments