Forget in a Flash: A Further Investigation of the Photo-Taking-Impairment Effect
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Re: Forget in a Flash: A Further Investigation of the Photo-Taking-Impairment Effect
#2How about seeing the photo itself? I'd be interested in testing situations where you take a photo but don't see it even once, not even the preview after taking it (for instance, using an analog camera). As I understand it, both situations tested here forced you to see the taken photo, which may actually be the trigger for the effect, not the photo taking action itself.
Re: Forget in a Flash: A Further Investigation of the Photo-Taking-Impairment Effect
#3I wonder if you'd get different results with analog photography.
I'm really into film photography and I find I remember the motives I'm shooting quite well. Maybe that's because with film you're more deliberate in what you shoot and due to the sense of anticipation to seeing the final result.
Re: Forget in a Flash: A Further Investigation of the Photo-Taking-Impairment Effect
#4Hm, this reminded me of the "A placebo can work even when you know it’s a placebo" case:
https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/placebo-can-work-even-kn...
We take a pill that we know will do nothing, and our body reacts anyway
We take a picture that we know will do nothing, and our body reacts anyway
What I see here is that our ""logic"" gives no feedback to the ""subconscious"" mechanisms that get formed, such as : "I take a pill, I get better", "I take a picture, I will see this again"
Re: Forget in a Flash: A Further Investigation of the Photo-Taking-Impairment Effect
#5I am shocked by this as I find myself mostly able to remember the moments when I took a photo... like, I went to a wedding last week, and I have a really strong memory of most of the photos I took even though I have not yet looked at any of them. I would have assumed the process of paying careful attention to a scene with the goal of capturing "the perfect moment" makes that moment itself special and unique, not just from your analysis and critique but also simply from how it forces that moment to be separate from the continuous stream of time over which your interest would previously had have to have been spread.
Re: Forget in a Flash: A Further Investigation of the Photo-Taking-Impairment Effect
#6I am shocked by this as I find myself mostly able to remember the moments when I took a photo... like, I went to a wedding last week, and I have a really strong memory of most of the photos I took even though I have not yet looked at any of them . I would have assumed the process of paying careful attention to a scene with the goal of capturing "the perfect moment" makes that moment itself special and unique, not jus…
> the process of paying careful attention to a scene
I think you've hit on the main thing here that (in a sense) differentiates you from the "normal photographer". Honestly, a lot of people just "point and shoot", in the article's "save an ephemeral memory" sense. You're taking the time to make a careful composition (and artistic composition is not something most people study). Your "capturing 'the perfect moment'" and "analysis and critique" are just not something a lot of friends and family do on vacations.
Not that there's anything wrong with any of that! But I think that's probably the difference here.
Re: Forget in a Flash: A Further Investigation of the Photo-Taking-Impairment Effect
#7Obviously if I'm operating recording equipment I'm less receptive to my surroundings. That's all they found. I don't see how this should be called "offloading". I'd call it "overloading".
Re: Forget in a Flash: A Further Investigation of the Photo-Taking-Impairment Effect
#8I am shocked by this as I find myself mostly able to remember the moments when I took a photo... like, I went to a wedding last week, and I have a really strong memory of most of the photos I took even though I have not yet looked at any of them . I would have assumed the process of paying careful attention to a scene with the goal of capturing "the perfect moment" makes that moment itself special and unique, not jus…
When I first read about this effect years ago, it was accompanied with the advice that careful study of the scene which you are photographing is enough to offset the effect (and perhaps even amplify memories).
I suspect that in "casual" photography, the photographer is simply focused on getting the camera turned on, pointing it in the right direction, and remembering to press the shutter, rather than the scene itself, and hence form no memories of the scene.
Re: Forget in a Flash: A Further Investigation of the Photo-Taking-Impairment Effect
#9I am shocked by this as I find myself mostly able to remember the moments when I took a photo... like, I went to a wedding last week, and I have a really strong memory of most of the photos I took even though I have not yet looked at any of them . I would have assumed the process of paying careful attention to a scene with the goal of capturing "the perfect moment" makes that moment itself special and unique, not jus…
> the process of paying careful attention to a scene I think you've hit on the main thing here that (in a sense) differentiates you from the "normal photographer". Honestly, a lot of people just "point and shoot", in the article's "save an ephemeral memory" sense. You're taking the time to make a careful composition (and artistic composition is not something most people study). Your "capturing 'the perfect moment'" a…
Agreed. Personally, I take photos daily - but a big portion of them is to capture something I don't have time to write down or a capacity to remember. Those could be adds in newspapers, clothing in some store etc.
Re: Forget in a Flash: A Further Investigation of the Photo-Taking-Impairment Effect
#10I am shocked by this as I find myself mostly able to remember the moments when I took a photo... like, I went to a wedding last week, and I have a really strong memory of most of the photos I took even though I have not yet looked at any of them . I would have assumed the process of paying careful attention to a scene with the goal of capturing "the perfect moment" makes that moment itself special and unique, not jus…
Were these posed photographs? I find this effect happens on candid photographs or action shots, both of which I consider much more valuable than posed photographs.