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On Not Carrying a Camera – Cultivating memories instead of snapshots

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Re: On Not Carrying a Camera – Cultivating memories instead of snapshots

#301

Post by nicbou »

I have built a timeline thing that combines my photos, my sketches, my journal, my GPS location and my Google searches. I can scroll to a given day and relive details that I would have otherwise forgotten about.

I am currently visiting Morocco again, this time without my motorcycle buddy. He died last summer. I would kick myself for not having any record of our trip together. There are so many little details in those pages I wrote in his company.

I also take new photos. They're for myself but also for my family and friends who are curious about my journey. They're a way to involve loved ones, because solo travel can get lonely.

As with anything else, there is a balance. Live in the moment, but save a little bit of it for later. Old photos can be nice to have when you feel a little down.

Besides, it trains you to observe certain details. What is worth sketching or writing about? What is the essence of this moment that must be captured? What will I want to remember about this day? How do I feel right now?

Re: On Not Carrying a Camera – Cultivating memories instead of snapshots

#302

Post by xandrius »

vanviegen wrote: post #255
diggan wrote: post #226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> and postcards basically no longer exist You mean in the sense that no one sends/receives them? Because that might be true for the younger generation, but postcards are still available literally anywhere I've been in the world, and are still very easy to send, for those who enjoy that.

I just came back from two weeks touring Thailand. No postcards to be found anywhere. None. Lots of Buddha and elephant souvenirs though... Not sure what to make of that, but I guess they just weren't selling anymore?

Hardly believe that. Been there a few years back and definitely found them.

Re: On Not Carrying a Camera – Cultivating memories instead of snapshots

#303

Post by xandrius »

zkmon wrote: post #223

My village people in the 1960's or 70's hated to be photographed. Heck, they hated even being called by their own name (instead of family name or by relation or by their title etc). Photography is kind of evil. It won't let people to fade away from memories. It's like a plastic that never decomposes. Not only that, it misrepresents people, because people don't remain in same pose, mood or appearance forever. It attac…

But I am still happy my gran and gramp took that photo on their trip to Spain, I have a slice of their younger selves when I wasn't even a thought for them. Even more so when all that is left for me to share with others is my words, some photos and 2 tombstones.

Re: On Not Carrying a Camera – Cultivating memories instead of snapshots

#304

Post by jojohohanon »

… this is incredibly wrong headed. People forget. Even when we promise we will remember, we forget. And what we remember is often false and distorted; more so with every revisit.

Take snapshots and souvenirs to aid and anchor your memory. Take careful photographs to adorn your walls and communicate to others.

But don’t film concerts. There is no upside

Re: On Not Carrying a Camera – Cultivating memories instead of snapshots

#305

Post by instagib »

haswell wrote: post #211
instagib wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

you’re supposed to be able to make an image of an apple appear in your brain by thinking about it? Sounds nice. Well that was a fun side quest for the evening. One thing I read is aphantasia is common among siblings also.

> you’re supposed to be able to make an image of an apple appear in your brain by thinking about it? This is very similar to how I reacted when I started reading “When the Mind’s Eye is Blind” [0] one day. Up to that point (I think I was 31 at the time) I had always believed that when people talked about “visualizing” something, it was just a figure of speech. I didn’t realize people meant it literally . 30+ years of…

I suppose this is why the mind palace of memory is difficult for me to utilize.

I have read that eskimos lost in the snow and ice have been able to have day hallucinations visually as well auditory. They see and hear birds which do not exist.

A YouTuber simulated it with thick white paper taped to his head with white noise playing head phones after 15-30min, iirc.

Another avenue to look into aside from hallucinogens as referenced in the link could be deep meditation.

Re: On Not Carrying a Camera – Cultivating memories instead of snapshots

#306

Post by scrollop »

jclardy wrote: post #192
scrollop wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've noticed that of all the hundreds of thousands of family images I have taken, everyone wants to watch the tens of thousands of videos I took simultaneously. With video, you can recollect better people's personalities, get more of a sense of the moment. Pictures are great, though imho videos surpass.

A problem I have, and I'd guess a lot of people now have, is organization. We have the ability to easily capture content, and even easier now organize it via albums. But you have to build your own "system" of organization. And now we use our camera for mundane things, like screenshots, reminders, documentation, etc. so the amount of new data is just ever increasing. My parents had a camcorder that was out for special…

When you transfer your files to storage, you can use a simple script to rename the files with date taken and into a year -- month -- day folder structure.

Or dumping everything into one folder would work with metadata, though I've found different programs get confused with created date Vs modified date Vs other metadata used, so best to rename.

In the future this will likely be less of an issue with ai reading everything, easy organisation and searching and, I hope, an ai that can read 2 tb of videos and create a 20 min vacation edit or best of birthdays in the last 10 years etc

Re: On Not Carrying a Camera – Cultivating memories instead of snapshots

#308

Post by ivape »

scrollop wrote: post #107
ivape wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When you watch those episodes of Maury where they have a father-less baby up on stage, and they are trying to figure who the daddy is, you have to contend with the fact that there's an entire audience in-person and at-home that are just taking part in the sheer entertainment of what will ultimately be that child's most embarrassing and deep sorrow in life. Not only that, but we film the spectacle. This was a hit show…

Your idea for a story may be a glimpse of a memory: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-6-the-life-review/i... This podcast somewhat changed my life.

Interestingly enough, this concept of a life review is actually also described as a particular detail of Christianity. There is a very specific supernatural phenomena that is explained, where the spirit of God "convicts" you of your life (conviction by the Holy Spirit, this what Christians believe). I'm not pushing Christianity, I'm just saying there are multiple parallel ideas of what this thing could actually be that's been brought up across, it seems, science, religion, and philosophy. As in, a lot of different fields have broached this topic leading to at the very least, a pretty interesting coincidence. Of course, first-hand testimonies just add to the mystery.

Totally checking out the podcast!

Re: On Not Carrying a Camera – Cultivating memories instead of snapshots

#309

Post by jay-barronville »

planck_tonne wrote: post #11

There must be a balance. Recently I met some people that were constantly filming and taking pictures of everything. It was ridiculous IMO, for the same reasons OP mentions. This is not new. For me, it began with the rise of the smartphone. So I made it a point not to waste my time photographing things. 10 years later, I regret having essentially no pictures of anything. In particular, no "good" or "frameable" picture…

This comment is so relatable.

For years, I made the conscious decision to focus entirely on enjoying moments instead of taking photos and recording videos. I now regret having been so strict about that.

Before I got married and settled down to work on building my family, I had so much fun as a single man. I traveled to so many places, enjoyed many concerts, went to lots of events/conferences, etc. Fast forward to now, I have nothing to show for most of it (other than maybe passport stamps and whatnot). Sometimes, I wish I could show my wife what it was like when I was in this or that country, but I can’t—it’s all just in my head!

My wife is pretty much the opposite of me when it comes to this. She has snapshots of most of her adult life. I came to truly appreciate her commitment to maintaining snapshots of our lives after we had our first child, because I noticed how quickly our little baby was growing and I constantly wanted to see how he looked and what he was doing a month ago, two months ago, etc. If it had been up to me, we likely would have very few of the photos and videos we have now.

Re: On Not Carrying a Camera – Cultivating memories instead of snapshots

#310

Post by coldtea »

planck_tonne wrote: post #11

There must be a balance. Recently I met some people that were constantly filming and taking pictures of everything. It was ridiculous IMO, for the same reasons OP mentions. This is not new. For me, it began with the rise of the smartphone. So I made it a point not to waste my time photographing things. 10 years later, I regret having essentially no pictures of anything. In particular, no "good" or "frameable" picture…

>There must be a balance.

Why? I mean, why we cannot just NOT take pictures, or taken them very very very rarely, like on our wedding, kids first steps, or something major like that?

We managed to do without immediate access to photography for some millenia, and with very ocassional and rare use of it for the best part of the 20th century.

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