Photographs and Memory
In this article, ‘When Photographs Create False Memories’, it discusses how photographs can increase and decrease memory (Garry and Gerrie, 2010).
These ways are creating false memories by showing a piece of work that does not exist; showing that photographs are less powerful than narratives in some cases; pointing out that true photographs can create false memory and presenting evidence to show that photographs. The writers have provided evidence to support their claim that photographs can create false memories by demonstrating how easy it is to recall false events (Garry and Gerrie, 2010).
In figure 1, father and son have been cut out of picture A and placed in picture B, a hot air balloon to create a false memory (Garry and Gerrie, 2010). The use of images aid understanding of the text in balanced way irrespective of whether it is story based or picture based.
To support the view that ‘doctored photo can doctor memory’, the article provides evidence to support this argument. For example, by using image editing software, images can be edited to create the desired effects. This is supported by Lury who states: ‘in which something is the object with hardly anything or at least can be something from point of view’ (1998, p 154). This illustrates that by adding more to an image can create something out of nothing. An object can therefore be added or removed using Photoshop. Editing has improved and therefore it can be difficult to distinguish between an original and a false memory (Garry and Gerrie, 2010).
Both real and doctored photographs can create false memories, as the writers have demonstrated, a view I strongly agree with. Having seen photographs of my parents on a beach, appearing realistic, when in fact they were taken in a studio with a backdrop that created this false memory that they were on holiday.
