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[OM] Photography and Memory [was Cai is innocent! and maybe why photogra

Subject: [OM] Photography and Memory [was Cai is innocent! and maybe why photographers are forgetfull]
From: Moose <olymoose@xxxxxxxxx>
Date: Thu, 12 Dec 2013 13:17:26 -0800
On 12/12/2013 7:04 AM, Chris Barker wrote:
> I remember loads of places and people because I have photographed them.

On 12/12/2013 8:45 AM, Piers Hemy wrote:
> And my photographs remind me of many places about which I had forgotten,
> before re-visiting the photo.

On 12/12/2013 6:53 AM, Bob Whitmire wrote:
> For those of a more serious amateur or professional bent, I would argue with 
> the conclusion. Anecdotally (down, Andrew! Down!), my experience has been 
> that I tend to look very carefully at something before I photograph it. 
> Looking at the photograph triggers a full sensory recollection of the object 
> or spot.
>
> For those of a more happy-snappy persuasion, the research seems credible.

Another piece of silliness that, at least as reported, doesn't examine it's 
technique and assumptions very closely.

Another way to put it is that the results are valid only for one sort of 
people, under one, strictly limited circumstance.

I sent this a bit ago to someone off list:
-----------------------------------------
"I do know one thing about myself and photography. If I'm out without a camera, 
I tend to lose attention to my 
surroundings. I don't run into things, but I tend to 'see' what's around me 
less than I would like to. Much of it has to 
do with getting lost in my head.

In any case, I find that a camera in my hand leads me to be always looking at 
what's around me. Being in touch with my 
surroundings, in the moment, is good for me. It delights me when I'm out with 
Carol and/or others and surprise them with 
images of things they didn't even notice when they were right there.

Perhaps I'm wrong, perhaps I could learn to notice these thing without a camera 
to keep me looking (Might I have 
already?), and just be grateful to them for showing me how to see. But for now, 
I'm happy to carry cameras and let them 
be my crutch. Besides, others appear to get enjoyment out of my photography - 
and I still do, too. "
-----------------------------------------
I have fairly often done just what this experiment entailed, taken pictures of 
things in museums.

One of the generalizations from the study is not true of me. I do look at the 
images I've captured in museums, more than 
once, often quite some time apart. I find a synergistic relationship.

Sometimes, I wander through shots from years ago, only to find something(s) 
about which I had forgotten. Other times, I 
recall something unclearly, and can go back to see what it really looked like. 
It's sometimes a joy to be able to 
re-enjoy something I may never see in person again.

In a conversation this last weekend, my brother brought up the one may build up 
a 3D surface using oil paints. This 
brought up a very clear memory of the very thick, complex build-up of oil paint 
in the corner of a Van Gogh in the Met. 
But how much was memory of the viewing in which I noticed this detail, and how 
much was memory of the much more recent 
viewing of the close-up I took at the time? Then again, what about the second 
viewing in person, while aware of the 
first viewing and the original close-up? :-)

I find it annoying when an exhibit prohibits photography, but doesn't have a 
catalog available. I wish I'd snuck a 
couple more shots of one, in particular, where recalling some early photographs 
on display seems important to me, but I 
know my memory not to be perfect.

Sometimes, I remember one, which reminds me of the other, sometimes the reverse.

I think it's a silly and ultimately meaningless experiment.

Moose D'Opinion

-- 
What if the Hokey Pokey *IS* what it's all about?
-- 
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