Photography and Memory...

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holdingyouclose

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For my dissertation i am looking at the connections between photography and memory.
I was wondering if you could answer the 3 following questions for me to help with my research.

Thanks, :)



1. Name (Optional) :


2. Do you feel a photograph can serve as a memory? (Yes, No, Not sure)



3. Why?
 
holdingyouclose said:
For my dissertation i am looking at the connections between photography and memory.
I was wondering if you could answer the 3 following questions for me to help with my research.

Thanks, :)


2. Do you feel a photograph can serve as a memory? (Yes, No, Not sure)

Yes.

3. Why?

Memories are false.
Click to expand...
 
It can trigger a memory, but it can also help you to invent memories. Just like people invent (unwittingly) details about traumatic events when called upon in court for example. You may look at a photograph and think that you remember the event pictured. Whereas in reality you are inventing details by drawing from similar past experiences.
 
Photos can be false as well.

1. PsiFox

2. yes.

3. Yes but not necessarily a true one
 
You really need to be defining what you mean by a memory.

Do you feel a photograph can serve as a memory? I'm not really sure what that means. Do you mean, if one can't recall an event, but a photograph recorded it, then it's serving as a memory? Or if looking at that photograph triggers a thought in the viewer, then it's serving as a memory?
 
I don't really want to be too precise because then i doubt i'll get much from it. I want to see what everyone else feels about the connection between photographs and a memory. I'm asking in a broad sense (a trigger, an actual memory, a copy etc) Just what you feel. I don't want to say what i feel because the answers might come back too bias.
 
1. Mark

2. Yes

3. For me, over time, memories can change in the mind, whereas a photograph captures the exact, accurate moment to refer to, providing it is a true image of what the eye saw.
 
2. Yes

3. Apart from acting as a memory, looking back through old photographs can prompt one to recall other things associated with the photograph.
 
1. Lem

2. No

3. No, but a photograph can trigger a memory that is locked away in your brain but a photograph is not a memory in itself.
 
1 George
2 Definitely
3 Probably for me. The most important reason for having a camera. Freezing time.
But as the years roll by, some of the memories are turning to nightmares.
It's not much fun watching yourself age 40 odd years in 10 minuets.
 
1. Name (Optional) : Sarah


2. Do you feel a photograph can serve as a memory? (Yes, No, Not sure) Yes i do, in certain cases.


3. Why? They can help you remember certain things more clearly... ie, what some one looked like, how a room was arranged, an event that may have happened etc.

Good luck with the dissertation! I remember what it was like doing mine!!!
 
1. Name (Optional):

Graham


2. Do you feel a photograph can serve as a memory? (Yes, No, Not sure)

Yes


3. Why?

The best example I can think of is with photos of my childhood. There are events I didn't remember until I saw a photo upon which I remember them. But then maybe I don't actually remember them and am using my imagination based on the photograph to make what I believe is a memory - but it's now still a memory albeit maybe not a true one but still a memory.

Either way, I believe a photograph can serve as a memory in that it may prompt or allow you to create memories to a certain extent. I guess it depends how technical you want to be lol
 
I'm guessing you've read "Camera Lucida - Roland Barthes" and "On Photography - Susan Sontag". If you haven't, then read them! Should give you plenty of material.
 
I can't remember exactly what my dissertation title was but I looked at the history of "the snapshot" and the journey of photography from science, to art, to tool of the family (recording important events) including a lot about Kodak's role in bringing photography to the masses. Sounds like you are looking at similar sort of themes. Good luck with it all!
 
holdingyouclose said:
For my dissertation i am looking at the connections between photography and memory.
I was wondering if you could answer the 3 following questions for me to help with my research.

Thanks, :)



1. Name (Optional) :


2. Do you feel a photograph can serve as a memory? (Yes, No, Not sure)



3. Why?
Click to expand...

1. Alan

2. No, not necessarily

3. A photograph can, I'm sure, act as an aide memoire, although a memory, as such, is that image or scene implanted in one's brain. This sounds pretentious, I know, but isn't intended to be. For instance, I don't carry around with me any pictures of my daughter when she was a baby: I carry all the images in my head and when I'm feeling low, I only have to return to those images to return to happier times. The only photographs of her when she was a baby that may serve as 'memories' are those that were taken when I wasn't there. They give me a sense of inclusion in the moment ,but I still have to picture it in my mind's eye.


Woah..... too much cider tonight.
 
Garry79 said:
I can't remember exactly what my dissertation title was but I looked at the history of "the snapshot" and the journey of photography from science, to art, to tool of the family (recording important events) including a lot about Kodak's role in bringing photography to the masses. Sounds like you are looking at similar sort of themes. Good luck with it all!
Click to expand...

Yeah i've pretty much looked at everything you've noted there. Kodak is a major part of this theme! I thought i'd ask the above questions because i've realised i've got alot of theories and personal opinions but not much about what other people feel!
Thanks for everyones help so far :)
 
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