We are obsessed.
Obsessed with capturing moments for our own belated enjoyment – most of the time, these moments are captured in still photos on our phones. It is easier than ever now, anyone can just pick up a phone and snap! locked in storage, confined to the device – it will be there when you want to look at it again.
We take pictures because we want to remember. All other reasons for taking pictures fall under remembrance. But what if snapping photos everywhere we go actually impedes our ability to recall a moment well?
Linda Henkel, a psychology professor at Fairfield University did a study in 2014 when in which a group of students were asked to take photos while being led through an art museum. When tested the next day, they were less able to recall the details of the very objects they captured by photo.
Henkel says, "It makes sense because research consistently shows that divided attention is absolutely an enemy of memory." We expect that by taking pictures we won't have to remember the minute details of the object or place we were in, because our phones supposedly do it for us.
Don't get me wrong, I love to take pictures. I love being able to remember how awesome that sunrise looked on that crisp summer morning of my departure to my new summer job—it represented a new stage in my life.
Pictures and moments mean a lot to me. They're the only way I can see myself as a child, for almost no one remembers what they looked like as a child; they must consult the family album. The only way I can see my great-grandparents is through photography.
Yet somehow our devices have become our vices; they've begun to control the very lives we claim to have a hold on and have utterly destroyed our interactive abilities.
I know, this seems like quite a harsh stand to be taking here, but, seriously, try it for yourself: stop taking pictures all the time. Apple revolutionized the camera by making it front facing. Snapchat has transformed the way we view those pictures – if I may go so far as to say that it's also rekindled a narcissistic desire for those weak enough to succumb to its allure (believe me when I say this happens to me quite often).
We have literally become obsessed with taking photos and videos of ourselves and others. Then they're gone by the time we want to look at them again. How is that even supposed to be photography? It’s not. It’s just another way of separating our lives that we portray on social media from a genuine human experience.
Instead of photographically logging our days in our phones, we should try living in reality, and remembering with our brains. I do this all the time; when I get to that awesome look-out point, I'll take a quick picture, then sit and admire the beauty of the landscape.
Sometimes I won't even take a picture because 1. I don't have my phone (imagine that), or 2. I feel that it's simply too amazing to capture and that doing so would utterly spoil the moment.
If we are so hard pressed to have a great memory, why ruin it with your phone in your face? So the next time you are in a situation and you feel the need to take a picture, stop and ask yourself...why?
Some moments just aren't meant to be captured.
