The Memory of Photography

Extended Research
I have been asked to extend my research to point(s) of the previous essay written by
David Bate that interest me; below is a quoted statement that I have decided to look into
with a more domestic view point; learning and finding out the relationship people have
between the memory and the photograph in a more personal way.
What did photography do for memory and what contribution has photography made to
the practice of memory in human culture?(David Bate Essay: The Memory of
Photography P.243)
In my search I came across a photographer Philip Toledano who along with many pieces
of work, created a website for a series of images called days with my father. This is
starting to look at the importance of photography to the human memory from a different
angle. Following the death of Philips mother he came to realise how much he had been
protected by her in regards to her fathers failing health, physically his body worked, it
was his mind that was giving up, but more specifically his memory.
Toledano had to break the news of his mothers death to his father over and over and
over again, this led to him telling his father that his mother was in France looking after a
relative; as a photographer, Toledano chose to photograph this experience as a sort of
online photographic journal. The relevance of this series of work and of this angle to
opening my extended research is to show (and allow Philip Toledano to show) how fragile
the human memory is.
It was after a failed operation to cure epilepsy on Henry Molaison in 1957 and leaving
him in a permanent state of amnesia that research was performed with his consent (later
on), that the medical profession started to learn how the memory worked and how fragile
our brain is; in his operation surgeons removed memory circuits in the temporal lobe
and his left and right amygdala (a complete structure that sits just in front of the
hippocampus).(Quote: Prof Suzanne Corkin found in https://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/may/05/henrymolaison-amnesiac-corkin-book-feature)

Above shows that our memories can be delicate and that when/if they start to dissipate
then our whole lives can be lost and forgotten; these sufferers arent just left to not
remember or if self-efficient dont just allow that to take over their lives, they find ways
to compensate.
A friend of mine who suffers from epilepsy suffers from an extremely poor memory, due
to this she compensates in two ways, she creates memory boxes (one for her and one for
her daughter mapping out the paths of their lives, together and separate) and she
creates (and stores on numeral external hard drives) dated computerised photo albums,
if we give her a date she can see what happened either on that date or surrounding it
and this helps her to produce further memories.
My friend is not the only one that uses photography in a way that helps to aid her
memory for more than just keepsakes for the distant future, there are many cases of
photography being used at different extremes. In an article called Memories,
Photographs, and the Human Brain: Written by Joshua Sarinana (Published July 20,
2013)a new technological recording device is introduced to the reader, Microsoft
Researchers have been studying the role of photography in strengthening memories in
individuals with damaged hippocampi

Hannah Lewis

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L2M4 EXERCISE 3:6

This damage is very similar/the same to that suffered by Henry Molaison These
individuals with hippocampal damage have autobiographical memory deficits, meaning
they cannot recall the events of their lives and after a few days their memories of life
events face away Memories, Photographs, and the Human Brain: Written by Joshua
Sarinana (Published July 20, 2013) P.4)
This camera passively takes photos taken throughout the day. In this study, participant
with hippocampal damage reviewed all the phots taken during their day. The level of
recall in individuals with the SenseCam was then compared to memory recall of events
without the SenseCam or to events that were written in a diary. Participants with a
SenseCam had greater levels of recall when compared to no SenseCam and when
compared to only having a written diary. What is interesting about the findings is that it
suggests that visual memory of events is stored outside the hippocampus, but only after
studying photographs. Memories, Photographs, and the Human Brain: Written by Joshua
Sarinana (Published July 20, 2013) P.4)
As we all know, the above conditions are not the only ones that affect the human
memory/mind there are so many; a very large contributor to memory loss is Alzheimers.
On a blog page for Dementia/Memory Loss and Alzheimers Prevention I found an article
written by Mark Huntsman, below an opening statement.
A great part of our personal identities comes from knowing where were on the timeline
of our lives. When you start to lose your memory, you start to lose your sense of yourself.
Though, there are ways to stimulate the mind when living with Alzheimers disease and
dementia.
Image association through photographs can play a key role in allowing those living with
Alzheimers to reminisce about pleasant times in their lives, just as it can also help them
to be engaged in the present moment by helping them remember the people in their
lives.(Dementia/Memory Loss and Alzheimers Prevention: written by Mark Huntsman
P.1)
Within this article it shares numerous ways to aid those sufferers with the use of
photography for example:
(1) A personalised photo album in the paragraph explaining the best way to
organise this for them Mark suggests putting a photograph of the owner smiling
at the front which when they see it gives them desire to smile back, although this
is not a memory based necessity it is a basic (very domestic) example of the
positive benefits that photography has had on human culture, this image is the
first thing they see which entices them to open the book which will work as a
visual timeline showing the people in their lives and the order in which things
happened the good memories of their lives which they can revisit over and over
again.
(2) (Example 3 on the article) Use a Camera and journal to Chronicle Events in
this example it is suggested that you encourage those suffering from these types
of illnesses to photograph the people in your life (especially new people) and
things that they do in their everyday lives alongside a journal allowing them to reexperience the good times and to keep connected to their environment.
Information taken from (Dementia/Memory Loss and Alzheimers Prevention: written by
Mark Huntsman P.1 & P.2)

Hannah Lewis

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L2M4 EXERCISE 3:6

The above information is only a small insight into the benefits of photography on the
humans memory, this may seem like a small minority based benefit but this is not the
case, in America you are looking at approx. 5.3 million (figure taken from
http://www.alz.org/facts/ )and that is just one country and one strand of illness that
effects the human memory; photography aids in a higher quality of life and I think that
that is an outstanding accomplishment for photography and an important high impact
contribution to have been made.

Hannah Lewis

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L2M4 EXERCISE 3:6