Some slight adjustments for people who take photos to remember moments

Taking photos can often make a moment more difficult to remember. Linda Henkel wrote the first academic paper on this tendency, describing it as “photo taking impairment.” Subsequent studies have replicated this finding. 

One of the potential explanations is that our brains know it doesn’t need to remember the experience, because the photograph will help. Another is because we need to go through the trouble of actually taking the photo—composition, focus, lighting, etc.—and that distracts us from the moment. 

The takeaway isn’t to avoid taking photos entirely. It’s to be more intentional about how the photos are taken and organized:

Take fewer photos. Be intentional about the moments you want to take photos of, and trust your brain to remember the rest of it.

Before and after you take the photo, stay with the moment for a few minutes. Pay attention to how you feel and what you see. When I looked at an artwork for a couple of hours, I noticed how many people fluttered by after snapping a photograph, mostly for a few seconds. They didn’t even give their brains a chance to remember the work.

Ask someone else to take a photo for you. For example, if you’re having a meal with friends, ask the waiter to take a photo after they set the main courses down. 

Spend time looking over photos, to rehearse the memory—the same way you’d talk about memories with a friend. Set it up as your screensaver or your TV background. Buy a digital photo frame. Make a collage for your friends and family.

Perhaps even simply being aware—knowing that you can’t entirely count on a photograph to remember an experience for you—will be enough to remind you to soak in the moment for a few seconds, before and after you take the photo. Your camera and photos should help you remember, and you shouldn’t count on them to define the memory for you.

Create artifacts other than photographs, so that your brain has other ways of remembering the moment. Journal and write it down. Buy a souvenir, grab a pamphlet, save your bus or plane ticket. Be intentional about these as well.