On Not Carrying a Camera – Cultivating memories instead of snapshots
hedgehogreview.com
On Not Carrying a Camera – Cultivating memories instead of snapshots
1–10 of 333 posts
Re: On Not Carrying a Camera – Cultivating memories instead of snapshots
#2Photographs help jog your memory. That's why I take them at least...
Re: On Not Carrying a Camera – Cultivating memories instead of snapshots
#3The article doesn't really say anything about the "cultivating memories" part. I find that living in the moment, plus writing down shortly after is the best way for me to remember things with high fidelity.
Re: On Not Carrying a Camera – Cultivating memories instead of snapshots
#4[flagged]
Re: On Not Carrying a Camera – Cultivating memories instead of snapshots
#5I’d always wanted to go to Korea. I was so excited. I set out to explore and forgot my phone in the hotel.
I walked around Seoul for twelve hours that day and experienced so many wonderful things. I remember them all vividly now, years later, but I have no photos of it.
It was a relief to not document everything. I appreciated everything as a one-step process instead of a two-step process. I could just feel amazed, instead of feel amazed and hold up my camera to record it. Besides, how often do I look at those photos later, anyway? I find it more useful to refer to my journal of how I felt, instead of what I saw.
A few times, GPS could have helped, but because I didn’t have it, I had to go ask strangers for directions. Getting lost led me down some great little back roads I never would have found if I was following the map.
So now I intentionally travel without a phone.
I feel free and untethered. A break from connection.
Where you are is partially defined by where you are not. When you’re somewhere, you’re not somewhere else. But when you use your phone, you’re everywhere. You keep in touch with friends. You hear what’s going on at home. You see the screen exactly as you do anywhere else.
It’s wonderful to be cut off from everywhere else — to be more fully only there.
And it’s so nice to not know the time or where I am. Clocks and maps are useful inventions, but I see a moment better without them.
I appreciate a moment more when I know I’ll never see it again. I remember that day in Seoul better than I remember most photo-filled travels.
Re: On Not Carrying a Camera – Cultivating memories instead of snapshots
#6I rarely take pictures for memories, but rather to create art to share. If I think the photograph will be a work of art, then I'll go through the effort to capture it. If not, I just don't bother and focus on the experience.
Re: On Not Carrying a Camera – Cultivating memories instead of snapshots
#7[flagged]
Re: On Not Carrying a Camera – Cultivating memories instead of snapshots
#8I’d always wanted to go to Korea. I was so excited. I set out to explore and forgot my phone in the hotel. I walked around Seoul for twelve hours that day and experienced so many wonderful things. I remember them all vividly now, years later, but I have no photos of it. It was a relief to not document everything. I appreciated everything as a one-step process instead of a two-step process. I could just feel amazed, i…
I think it depends on what you value.
I think a large part of taking photos and recording things for a lot of people is that they like to journal and record things, in part, for future generations to have.
Like it's great you had those amazing experiences, but in a sense it's as if they're also going to die with you as well (assuming you even have children).
Of course, nothing wrong with what you're describing. I definitely can feel there's value in how you approach it, and I often fantasise about spending an entire year without technology at all.
Re: On Not Carrying a Camera – Cultivating memories instead of snapshots
#9I’d always wanted to go to Korea. I was so excited. I set out to explore and forgot my phone in the hotel. I walked around Seoul for twelve hours that day and experienced so many wonderful things. I remember them all vividly now, years later, but I have no photos of it. It was a relief to not document everything. I appreciated everything as a one-step process instead of a two-step process. I could just feel amazed, i…
Getting lost is important in life. As you say, you'll discover more and experience more.
How you remember something has more value than how it was. Over time it will morph in to the truth you experienced. In the same way a painter captures what they see not what is in front of them.
Enjoy the ride. Thank you.
Re: On Not Carrying a Camera – Cultivating memories instead of snapshots
#10I struggle to relate to this. I have aphantasia, which means I can’t see anything in my mind’s eye.
This is most painful when I try to “imagine” my wife’s face, my family, friends, favorite parts of nature, etc, but am left with nothing.
For me, this means that I struggle to remember things from my past beyond major life events. Even major events can be fuzzy for me.
As a result, I’ve always tried to snap quick pictures of what I’m doing, even if it means I have to “step away” from enjoying the moment for a brief second.
A few months ago, I loaded my 30k+ pics (across ~10 yrs) stored on a hard drive into an Immich instance. I can now easily look at those pictures and remember my past in a way that I simply couldn’t beforehand.
This has been an unbelievable improvement in QoL through an improved self-identity, remembrance of my past, and reconnection with memories of lost loved ones.
I can agree with the author on the disruptive nature of picture taking. But for me, none of what I listed above would be possible without capturing my memories in moderation and with pointed intent.