Reading Response: Photography and memory

Many people see photographs as just memories but there is so much to them and these articles have an interesting point on how we manipulate out memories. We the photographers are choosing the exact moment which we want to freeze in time. Sometimes we even edit or move things around in order to change the esthetic of the picture. Yes, this is art but it isn’t a memory because it has been altered and changed. Photographs can bring us back to a certain memory but a photograph its self is not a memory. The author said, “In the case of photographs, we have more power over the process of retaining and forgetting.” This is so true. We have the power to choose what we want to remember about that exact moment and what parts we want to edit out. When I was in Fiji I hiked to the highest point of the island that I was living on and I got to take some amazing photos but the photos that I took were of memories that I wanted to keep. I took photos of the amazing views of the mountains and ocean and I left out the parts like when I had to stop about 5 times to catch my breath or when I was sweating like a pig because of the scorching heat. I chose what parts I wanted to remember and left out the other parts because they were not as pleasant. In several years when I look back to the photos I took all I will remember is how beautiful the views were and I will start to forget about the rest because they were not photographed so I probably will start to forget some of the stories.