Naomi Lin - Week 2 - Pictures vs Memories
“A picture is worth a thousand words, but a memory is priceless.”
Does taking a picture add to or lessen an experience?
Some people believe that taking pictures is bad because people are not enjoying the moment.
They talk about the people who take out their phones and take pictures when they see pretty
scenery or delicious food. They see the view through their phone camera, not with their eyes.
They think that taking pictures is the best way to remember a memory because it stays the same
forever, while memories fade over time. The people who don’t support taking pictures say that if people
only see things through their phone cameras, it is the same as if they were only looking at photos. They
say that they are too obsessed with living for others, by taking pictures to post on social media, rather
than enjoying their own lives.
However, Business Insider states that “instagramming your night out could make it more enjoyable.”
Kristin Diehl, associate professor of marketing at the University of Southern California Marshall School
of Business, states that, “What we find is you actually look at the world slightly differently, because you’re
looking for things you want to capture, that you may want to hang onto. That gets people more engaged
in the experience, and they tend to enjoy it more.” Because people want to get the best shot, they spend
more time enjoying the scenery. They also found out that “just the act of planning to take a photo—
and not actually taking it—had the same joy-boosting effect.” This means that people subconsciously
decide to pay more attention and dedication towards things, when they take photos, and it is this
attention that makes things more enjoyable.
In conclusion, you can elevate your experiences, even without taking pictures. Just decide to pay more
attention to small details, or imagine taking a mental picture, and your experience will improve.
https://www.businessinsider.com/instagraming-pictures-of-meals-more-enjoyable-2016-6
Comments
I take pictures of a lot of obscure moments that I’d look back at my camera roll and wonder, “How and when did I take this photo?” It is quite fun to look back on the experiences you can hardly remember and photos definitely help with that. If you take a picture of something, I suppose you can decide yourself whether you want to remember it to heart or not because you have a picture anyway. I tend to not take pictures when something more memorable happens, perhaps because it’s already cemented in my memory. It’s nicer to experience things in the moment sometimes.
-Angel Susantin
I'm the type of person to take photos of things if I feel like it. I enjoy taking funny images of my friends because it gives me something to look back at. With sceneries, I try my best to take the best photo I can for future art references or just to encapsulate a memory. But, most of the time, I don't take photos in anticipation of having it as a core memory.
I take pictures of everything and I mean literally EVERYTHING that seems really cool. A trash bag on the road? Click. A weird looking gummy bear? Click. This isn’t funny anymore because all I do is just delete the pictures at the end of the day. I do understand that this is clearly a problem, but it makes my life more enjoyable because I pay attention to the little things I can laugh about.
Sincerely,
Mrinmayee
I totally agree although I like taking pictures; the only reason I do is that I have noticed something that seemed special to me because I saw something different than what you see when you are not paying attention to detail. I realize that memories capture more than your pictures do while a sunset can be seen almost everyday, getting a compliment from a teacher or teammate doesn't.
Taking pictures isn’t necessarily a bad thing, unless it's excessive and interrupts your everyday life, then that’s a problem. I think the people who believe that taking pictures are bad refer to the influencers of our time. Influencers tend to take pictures or videos of their every moment and will do anything (trust me when I say anything) to get the “perfect” picture amidst thousands of pictures in their camera roll. Now that’s a bit too much, but if it’s just to take a picture to remember a special moment, then it should be fine. As long as people are able to enjoy the moment they’re in and not be so caught up in taking pictures to be posted on social media, taking pictures can be a hobby and fun activity with friends!
Sincerely,
Faith Tong