Right now, I’m reading a book by Brene Brown, entitled: The Gifts of Imperfection. Today, I also began listening to an audio book that Brene Brown recommends, What Happened To You? By Bruce D. Perry, MD, PhD and Oprah Winfrey. I’ll link to all of these resources in our“Member Resources” page for PhotoDreamTrip members.
These books can make for a rich, enlightening duo. After listening to Dr. Perry discuss brain development and how our default responses are formed, so many ideas came to mind. Many of these ideas spoke to and made sense in describing my personal associations and responses that have formed since birth. The idea of associations being built is related to endless parts and pieces of our history and existence, from the smell of food, the sounds of music, a facial expression, the feel of the sand on our bare feet. When applied to our experiences, our brains have created an association. For example, the smell of coconut sunscreen brings beach images and reminders of warmth and relaxation to my mind.
A tangent from Dr. Perry’s research came to my mind for the discussion today. I’d like to think about how our brains have been altered to respond to visual imagery. In this case, I’ll speak to photography, but please replace “photography” with any topic that suits your experience.
When I think of how photographs, access to imagery and image-making have changed since my young days of watching family slideshows in my living room, I think photography today can impact the very essence of how we choose to live. Due to the unlimited exposures available by digital cameras and the powers of editing software, we have become conditioned to expect certain attributes in photographs. Does anyone remember only be limited to 24 exposures in a roll of film, being excited to get your prints and film back from the local photo lab to finally be transported back to these moments? I’m not opposed digital photography by any stretch, I love any chance to make photographs, no matter the camera. However, with the vast array of images being broadcasted in various methods throughout each day, our brains have developed an expectation for photographs that are highly saturated, with unreal levels of contrast and sharpness. We also may expect complex, unnatural and unrealistic combinations of people within an environment.
One of my passions with photography and writing is to reveal authenticity, which I will define here briefly as living the “real” you in “real” life. To use a travel photography example, it would be inauthentic for me personally to portray my hiking adventures through an exhausting routine involving hair, make-up and fashion styling. It also wouldn’t be my natural self to climb to the very edge of a cliff, stand on my tip-toe, twirl my dress and repeat about 50 times to get the perfect composition, movement and exposure, then add various levels of luminance and color-grading to this image before I send it off into the world with a message that reads something along the lines of “living is pausing for the moments that set us free”. Presenting myself and my life to world in this way would really not be providing a realistic view on my personal average day of hiking. I would like to point out, however that I acknowledge the effort, planning, training, equipment, talent and dedication brought to these types of on-location photographs. However, what purpose are they serving our society as a whole? How many of the people behind these images are truly enjoying this process and location, as well as the result? I believe that while this type of imagery and messaging is broadcasted everywhere we look, it has a great impact on our wellbeing. If we are not very careful, we can begin to view our lives, bodies, families, homes, travels and even our meals through a distorted lens. Just as in viewing a fashion model wearing a beautiful dress, one may feel somehow inferior when the same dress fits in an unappealing way in reality, blaming our bodies. Or the meals we serve our family do not meet the standard weeknight spread served by that one “average” family that you follow on social media. Or your home doesn’t measure-up…”reality” has been skewed by imagery and we continue to contribute to this false reality every time we omit our authenticity. Every nuance of our lives, our sense of self-acceptance and photography itself are at risk of a dysmorphic disorder.
Each day, I see others (and at times, myself) making comments and statements in social media that begin with “I only have _”, “We only went to _”, “I only made _”. I’m concerned with this downgrading of who, what and why we have, do and are. Do you ever find yourself undercutting things in life for which you and/or your loved ones have worked so hard or enjoy, feeling they are not being trendy or impressive within your community? If so, can you think of what sources may have influenced you to have developed this gauge? How can we improve our attitudes and gratitude towards our photographs, art making, travels, bodies, lifestyles, and “fill in the blank”? I’d love to hear your thoughts about how recent trends in photography and media have contributed to a shift in your personal view and perception of your own life. Let’s have this important conversation in the comments below.