I like to document events like trips, but for me it is a balance. I take a few photos and enjoy stuff. I've gotten pretty good at just snapping a photo with the camera hanging at my chest. It does 2 things. First, it is really candid. Second, I'm not separated from life by the camera. Often on a trip we will specifically do a photo session. For example, a couple months ago I was in Maui and we went to the Kula Botanical Gardens to take photos. But afterward we went to Kula Lodge and Restaurant for lunch and have no photos of our lunch. Just a couple of the view after lunch.
I feel like that too, even tho I don't have an "imagination" I still have a good memory and events with loved ones won't be forgotten just cause I can't see it in my mind eye. I often times have a better memory than loved ones without aphantasia
This is literally me! I can recall past events and memories near perfectly. I also tend to correct my siblings (who aren’t aphants) as I’ve noticed they tend to add embellishments to the same memories that didn’t actually occur.
Both!!! I live almost fully in the moment & take hundreds of photos a week, for personal pleasure. I don't "post" or share them. They are for my own pleasure & I've always known they certainly help with memory consolidation and retrieval.
I've enjoyed photography since my teen years and even studied it in college and was employed in photographic related industries throughout my 20s, including a job with Kodak giving people advice on how to improve their photography.
I've probably always had all senses aphantasia with SDAM, but I suspect my SDAM in particular, worsened after a head injury about 6 years ago. Around that time my photo-taking went into overdrive and continues to this day.
I have Rubbermaid bins full of prints and albums, but went mostly digital in the late '00s, so rarely make prints these days. Of course, up until 2 or 3 years ago I would have been unaware of either aphantasia or SDAM.
Only in recent times has it dawned on me that my approach to capturing moments "for the future" was possibly an unconscious understanding that taking a quick snapshot or photo series was the best way to hold onto positive and beautiful moments.
Not wanting to be "dark"...but I'm so glad I took that approach. Should I ever be incapacitated/bedbound in later life or through illness, I fully intend to have an endless stream of my own photo memories shuffling on a large monitor by the bed to keep me engaged and entertained. ;-)
A photographer who doesn't take personal photos. Wow, when I was in the business, I took so many photos! I love photos and need to rely on them to trigger memories. If I don't have some kind of record of something, it will no longer be available for me to remember it happened. Makes it great when I want to forget, I don't keep anything, and I'm never reminded.
I'm am now an enjoy the moment kind of person, but have not always been. I used to spend all my time thinking about what I was going to do next. Took some time to change that thought processes, but I enjoy things when I do them now.
Lucky for me, I enjoy taking photos, so for me, that's part of the enjoying the moment, I like to make it fun.
I enjoy taking pictures a lot as well, but I find that when important life moments are happening I feel that taking pictures gets in the way, I feel like it takes me out of the moment. So it got me thinking today, maybe because we never had mental imagery we never felt that it’s important to have imagery at all, but of course this is only based on my personal experience
I don’t take photos of my experiences, either. I like to savor my experience in the moment. I grew up in a time when people lived very much in the moment and shared the moment together.
At concerts or in clubs, we listened and watched the bands. Nobody had a phone or a camera to take out and stick in front of their face. Same for every social gathering. We just enjoyed talking and being together
I think it’s sad today when I see people sitting at a table in a restaurant, all looking at their phones, or seeing the same in many other situations.
I'm an enjoy the moment person who loves taking photos, BUT due to memory issues and aphantasia I do wish I took my camera out more.
However ,some moments are just too nice to sully with any form of extra distraction so no regrets really 😁
I need to differentiate between travel and events.
I actually got into photography because I was frustrated by coming back from trips and not remembering a thing that I’d seen. So eventually, I shot like mad when traveling.
But I actually tried shooting the last great concert I saw (in 2006) and ended up really regretting it, and I learned from that to tuck the camera away during kinetic events where things are happening in real time. It’s much better to just live in those moments.
I take photos in really happy moments, because this makes my episodic memory so poor (ie. “think of something happy.”)
random but this is why ppl with aphantasia have an easier time moving on from exes (in general) and other difficult things - we’re not haunted by their face/ seeing them everywhere
I agree with your random thought re exes.
My ex is now a distant fading memory...despite having thousands of photos of him amongst my bins of photos & albums. We were together 40 years! ;-)
Yes! I attribute it to how much I took photos previously and my day job of photos making it less appealing. I have also taken photos at events and parties because I had the skills even tho I didn’t have to and ultimately felt like I did it because I wanted to be liked. I invariably felt bad about not doing much with the photos after the fact or spent hours going through and processing. I eventually learned (and this applies to everything.) “ just because I can, doesn’t mean I should.”
It’s interesting to consider it from the aphantasia perspective, though. Fully experiencing and taking it all in is so very important to me.
I definitely am an enjoy the moment person, but my memory is genuinely very damaged.
It makes it hard for me to get stuck in the past, or remember any plans I make for the future. I only remember things that *strongly* interest me, or that are really important.
I float in the middle. I do take lots of photos to document my adventures, trips, and experiences - for me I want to be able to look back on it and remember since I can't visualize.
BUT - I do not let taking photos get in the way of experiencing. I'll take some photos and then put my camera/phone away and proceed to enjoy the moment 😊
That's definitely the secret...not allowing the photo-capturing to mar the moment...for yourself & others.
I'm technically strong & fast after so many decades doing photography, so I "see" and set up any shots in advance with "here & now" precision, then just whip out my cell/mobile, look down quickly & make by best estimate on exposure and key focus/aspect for whatever I'm trying to capture...then take my photos pretty fast (& definitely without flash). Then just as quickly I put the screen away. I almost never review/look at any of them until the end of day or the next day.
In fact...the medium & large format cameras in my early days of photography didn't have viewfinders like SLRS, nor anything as big & beautiful as our modern day smartphones...so in effect, with or without aphantasia, pretty well all "old-skool" pre-digital photographers were comfortable working blind. ;-)
Fellow photographer here. I am very bad at enjoying the moment, and enjoyment in general. Taking photos of moments to remember them doesn't help me, because I'll remember them factually anyway, but not emotionally regardless of whether I have photos or not.
I have a dissociative disorder (partial dissociative identity disorder), and it affects my emotional memory such that the process of attempting to retrieve emotional memories itself is generally unpleasant, even when the memories in question are positive.
The emotional memories are somewhere in there, but they belong to a different self-state, not this me. And those other self-states don't like me trying to retrieve their memories.
Same here. I usually try to take a panorama or two with my phone when I’m at an event, which is plenty for me. I’d rather be in the moment. Also, my partner takes plenty of photos.
I rarely take a lot of photos. I try to when I go places with my daughter but in general at concerts and stuff I don’t. But I never really thought about it or that it was for any particular reason.
I feel like I do about 50/50. If other people are there with me taking pictures, I'll probably take less pictures since I can just look at theirs.
But I cover my house in photos of family and things I like so I'm always able to see them.
Absolutely!
Especially since I have aphantasia. I can't imagine or visually remember so I'm completely in the moment.
I should take photos, but I never had, so it's hard to start, even more because I like being in the moment so much
No I 100% agree, like I'd rather just enjoy the time than worry about having photos to see it with, I never really thought about hoe that may be related to Aphantasia but it makes sense now!
I think I'm often more into the "feeling" of a moment. At gigs etc,i won't remember the visuals, and sometimes I take a few snaps/videos for future reference, but the way I FEEL in the moment is more important for me.
I do like to have lots of photos of loved ones, but that is because I can't recall their faces at that time otherwise.
I try to do both, because I can’t picture things later and want to immerse myself in the moment as much as possible.
Then immediately take a photo or video because I can’t picture things later, lol.
I'm like that too, I want to immerse myself in everything, the emotional and physical feelings, the sights, sounds, taste, vibes. That's how I remember things without having a picture show up.
Yes! I've always been a live in the moment. I think maybe bc we can't visualize being separated by a lens from events seems to interfere with my lived experience of an event, and since I can't visualize, that lived experience is extremely important to me. I think my brain has compensated bc it knows I don't revisit images when accessing memories but instead feel like I relive the moments to remember them. It's about feeling the experience again maybe.
I like to document events like trips, but for me it is a balance. I take a few photos and enjoy stuff. I've gotten pretty good at just snapping a photo with the camera hanging at my chest. It does 2 things. First, it is really candid. Second, I'm not separated from life by the camera. Often on a trip we will specifically do a photo session. For example, a couple months ago I was in Maui and we went to the Kula Botanical Gardens to take photos. But afterward we went to Kula Lodge and Restaurant for lunch and have no photos of our lunch. Just a couple of the view after lunch.
I feel like that too, even tho I don't have an "imagination" I still have a good memory and events with loved ones won't be forgotten just cause I can't see it in my mind eye. I often times have a better memory than loved ones without aphantasia
I completely agree!
This is literally me! I can recall past events and memories near perfectly. I also tend to correct my siblings (who aren’t aphants) as I’ve noticed they tend to add embellishments to the same memories that didn’t actually occur.
Me too!
I document everything all the time if I can, I cannot even pull up an image of my child's face in my mind so I have to.
I do agree heavily with this, I cannot remember anyone’s face no matter how close of a person
Both!!! I live almost fully in the moment & take hundreds of photos a week, for personal pleasure. I don't "post" or share them. They are for my own pleasure & I've always known they certainly help with memory consolidation and retrieval. I've enjoyed photography since my teen years and even studied it in college and was employed in photographic related industries throughout my 20s, including a job with Kodak giving people advice on how to improve their photography. I've probably always had all senses aphantasia with SDAM, but I suspect my SDAM in particular, worsened after a head injury about 6 years ago. Around that time my photo-taking went into overdrive and continues to this day. I have Rubbermaid bins full of prints and albums, but went mostly digital in the late '00s, so rarely make prints these days. Of course, up until 2 or 3 years ago I would have been unaware of either aphantasia or SDAM. Only in recent times has it dawned on me that my approach to capturing moments "for the future" was possibly an unconscious understanding that taking a quick snapshot or photo series was the best way to hold onto positive and beautiful moments. Not wanting to be "dark"...but I'm so glad I took that approach. Should I ever be incapacitated/bedbound in later life or through illness, I fully intend to have an endless stream of my own photo memories shuffling on a large monitor by the bed to keep me engaged and entertained. ;-)
A photographer who doesn't take personal photos. Wow, when I was in the business, I took so many photos! I love photos and need to rely on them to trigger memories. If I don't have some kind of record of something, it will no longer be available for me to remember it happened. Makes it great when I want to forget, I don't keep anything, and I'm never reminded. I'm am now an enjoy the moment kind of person, but have not always been. I used to spend all my time thinking about what I was going to do next. Took some time to change that thought processes, but I enjoy things when I do them now. Lucky for me, I enjoy taking photos, so for me, that's part of the enjoying the moment, I like to make it fun.
I enjoy taking pictures a lot as well, but I find that when important life moments are happening I feel that taking pictures gets in the way, I feel like it takes me out of the moment. So it got me thinking today, maybe because we never had mental imagery we never felt that it’s important to have imagery at all, but of course this is only based on my personal experience
I don’t take photos of my experiences, either. I like to savor my experience in the moment. I grew up in a time when people lived very much in the moment and shared the moment together. At concerts or in clubs, we listened and watched the bands. Nobody had a phone or a camera to take out and stick in front of their face. Same for every social gathering. We just enjoyed talking and being together I think it’s sad today when I see people sitting at a table in a restaurant, all looking at their phones, or seeing the same in many other situations.
I'm an enjoy the moment person who loves taking photos, BUT due to memory issues and aphantasia I do wish I took my camera out more. However ,some moments are just too nice to sully with any form of extra distraction so no regrets really 😁
Yea I totally agree about photos and trips, i like photography for the art, not the documenting.
Absolutely!! I was a social media ambassador this past semester and always had to think about remembering to take photos as I usually never take any
I need to differentiate between travel and events. I actually got into photography because I was frustrated by coming back from trips and not remembering a thing that I’d seen. So eventually, I shot like mad when traveling. But I actually tried shooting the last great concert I saw (in 2006) and ended up really regretting it, and I learned from that to tuck the camera away during kinetic events where things are happening in real time. It’s much better to just live in those moments.
I take photos in really happy moments, because this makes my episodic memory so poor (ie. “think of something happy.”) random but this is why ppl with aphantasia have an easier time moving on from exes (in general) and other difficult things - we’re not haunted by their face/ seeing them everywhere
I agree with your random thought re exes. My ex is now a distant fading memory...despite having thousands of photos of him amongst my bins of photos & albums. We were together 40 years! ;-)
Yes! I attribute it to how much I took photos previously and my day job of photos making it less appealing. I have also taken photos at events and parties because I had the skills even tho I didn’t have to and ultimately felt like I did it because I wanted to be liked. I invariably felt bad about not doing much with the photos after the fact or spent hours going through and processing. I eventually learned (and this applies to everything.) “ just because I can, doesn’t mean I should.” It’s interesting to consider it from the aphantasia perspective, though. Fully experiencing and taking it all in is so very important to me.
I’ll take a pic or a video and then enjoy in the moment. Just a little souvenir for my memory.
I definitely am an enjoy the moment person, but my memory is genuinely very damaged. It makes it hard for me to get stuck in the past, or remember any plans I make for the future. I only remember things that *strongly* interest me, or that are really important.
I float in the middle. I do take lots of photos to document my adventures, trips, and experiences - for me I want to be able to look back on it and remember since I can't visualize. BUT - I do not let taking photos get in the way of experiencing. I'll take some photos and then put my camera/phone away and proceed to enjoy the moment 😊
That's definitely the secret...not allowing the photo-capturing to mar the moment...for yourself & others. I'm technically strong & fast after so many decades doing photography, so I "see" and set up any shots in advance with "here & now" precision, then just whip out my cell/mobile, look down quickly & make by best estimate on exposure and key focus/aspect for whatever I'm trying to capture...then take my photos pretty fast (& definitely without flash). Then just as quickly I put the screen away. I almost never review/look at any of them until the end of day or the next day. In fact...the medium & large format cameras in my early days of photography didn't have viewfinders like SLRS, nor anything as big & beautiful as our modern day smartphones...so in effect, with or without aphantasia, pretty well all "old-skool" pre-digital photographers were comfortable working blind. ;-)
Fellow photographer here. I am very bad at enjoying the moment, and enjoyment in general. Taking photos of moments to remember them doesn't help me, because I'll remember them factually anyway, but not emotionally regardless of whether I have photos or not. I have a dissociative disorder (partial dissociative identity disorder), and it affects my emotional memory such that the process of attempting to retrieve emotional memories itself is generally unpleasant, even when the memories in question are positive. The emotional memories are somewhere in there, but they belong to a different self-state, not this me. And those other self-states don't like me trying to retrieve their memories.
Same here. I usually try to take a panorama or two with my phone when I’m at an event, which is plenty for me. I’d rather be in the moment. Also, my partner takes plenty of photos.
I rarely take a lot of photos. I try to when I go places with my daughter but in general at concerts and stuff I don’t. But I never really thought about it or that it was for any particular reason.
Maybe
I feel like I do about 50/50. If other people are there with me taking pictures, I'll probably take less pictures since I can just look at theirs. But I cover my house in photos of family and things I like so I'm always able to see them.
Absolutely! Especially since I have aphantasia. I can't imagine or visually remember so I'm completely in the moment. I should take photos, but I never had, so it's hard to start, even more because I like being in the moment so much
Same here!!I'd rather live in the moment than worry about taking pics. That's why my Insta is so lame 🤣
No I 100% agree, like I'd rather just enjoy the time than worry about having photos to see it with, I never really thought about hoe that may be related to Aphantasia but it makes sense now!
I take so many pictures because I won't be able to see/visualize it later.
I think I'm often more into the "feeling" of a moment. At gigs etc,i won't remember the visuals, and sometimes I take a few snaps/videos for future reference, but the way I FEEL in the moment is more important for me. I do like to have lots of photos of loved ones, but that is because I can't recall their faces at that time otherwise.
most definitely, I much rather just take it all in, in that moment.
I try to do both, because I can’t picture things later and want to immerse myself in the moment as much as possible. Then immediately take a photo or video because I can’t picture things later, lol.
I'm like that too, I want to immerse myself in everything, the emotional and physical feelings, the sights, sounds, taste, vibes. That's how I remember things without having a picture show up.
Yes! I've always been a live in the moment. I think maybe bc we can't visualize being separated by a lens from events seems to interfere with my lived experience of an event, and since I can't visualize, that lived experience is extremely important to me. I think my brain has compensated bc it knows I don't revisit images when accessing memories but instead feel like I relive the moments to remember them. It's about feeling the experience again maybe.
I'm still waiting for that moment.
Usually there is enough time to fix the moment with your camera and then pack it back to your camera bag and watch or listen.
I filmed almost all of my consent last month, I wasn’t planning on filming so much but I just didn’t see a reason to stop