Laura Caporizzo Photography: January 2011

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Photography as an Agent of Memory

     Today, I would like to discuss the topic of photography as an agent of memory. I feel like moments we would otherwise forget, or have forgotten, are made more permanent in our minds when we see a photograph of that moment or one that indirectly sparks a memory of a similar situation we may have had. Sometimes photographs are taken for the sole purpose of preserving a memory.
     Conversely, when we are the subjects in front of the lens, we are aware that a memory will be created and we will be immortalized in a way, because we are seen in relationship to pictures of ourselves- especially in this age of Facebook and Myspace, where a default photograph goes along with textual information about ourselves. We become this series internet imagery, the photos tagged as us, through Facebook and Myspace. People are no longer defined by their work, their peers, or their location; people are now defined by their profiles online (of which photographic imagery makes up a good portion) and this makes photographs that much more important today. People have a strong desire to post photographs of events and outings that they have memories of, and it is a way of sharing those memories with others.
     Alan Foljambe wrote an article titled, "Photography and Memory," that is a great reference for this topic. It can be found at http://www.suite101.com/content/photography-and-memory-a229914. "In the same way that literacy can decrease the ability of the mind to remember long stories, the presence of photographs may have the power to weaken the visual memory by decreasing the perceived need for it. The presence of the photograph moves the site of memory outside of the human mind, in which it is subject to constant change and mythologizing..." Certainly some food for thought.

LAURA ANNE CAPORIZZO