Buzz
These days, when I snap a picture, I don't give it much thought. I trust that it will be saved to the cloud automatically and have a timestamp attached to it. It's not like the past, when taking a photo meant printing it and storing it in photo albums.
However, this convenience also makes it easier to forget about the photos you have—and the moments they were meant to capture. Research shows that when we take pictures, we might not remember the event as well as if we had experienced it without a camera.
Angela Lashbrook writes at Elemental about some of that research. One study indicates that when we take photos, we focus more on how the image will be received (such as whether it will gain likes on Instagram) rather than truly observing or remembering the experience itself.
I wouldn’t say this is necessarily a bad thing. Any talented photographer will consider how their photo might be perceived by those who see it in a gallery or online. In our personal lives, it's important to reflect on the purpose of the photo and what your intention is behind taking it, rather than just snapping random pictures.
One idea that Linda Henkel, a researcher in the psychology of photography, shared with Elemental really stood out to me: 'Photos will trigger your memories much more effectively, Henkel says, if a limited number of them are thoughtfully selected for an album.'
You can then revisit these photos when you want to reminisce about a vacation, your child’s first year, or any other meaningful event. While you may not sift through every single photo from last year, you might enjoy picking out the best ones and revisiting them occasionally. You could also create a photo book or display some favorites on your walls. By doing so, you’ll have more opportunities to reflect on why those moments were significant to you in the first place.
