Memory and Still Images

Alpine Sunset. Near Dillon, Colorado, 2014

Galen Rowell (1940-2002) has always been an inspiration to me–as much for his climbing endeavors as for his wilderness photography. It was likely his fault–due to his 1974 article in National Geographic (see the famous cover below)–that my buddy, Jim Dublinski, and I climbed the Northwest Face of Half Dome way back in 1982.

But, it isn’t the climbing I wanted to discuss–rather, it is the relationship between still photography and memory that Galen mentions in his book, Mountain Light that I found intriguing.

He discovered that, over time, his memory would only recall certain high points of any given climb or wilderness expedition. His brain would not recall these memories in the form of a movie or video, but rather as a series of still images. Galen’s objective then became to record with his camera the images that he thought would correspond with his brain’s eventual memory of the key moments of the adventure–that is, match his 35mm photography to his brain’s organic photography. I would venture to guess that all of us have memories that work much this way–we remember in a series of still captures rather than in long-running video clips (although maybe some traumatic incidents could be an exception).

Perhaps this idea was pushed along by an interesting discussion he had with a climber friend of his. This climber refused to climb with anyone with a camera. His justification was that the images recorded by his photographer partner never corresponded with the stills his brain had recorded of the climb. This climber preferred to relish his personal memories rather than these “artificial memories” created and imposed by someone else. He actually found that, over time, the pictures made by the photographer would begin to supplant his real memory of the climb, something he didn’t like whatsoever.

Interesting concept.

I personally sometimes wonder how many of the memories I have filed away in my cerebral memory stick come from old family pictures I have seen, scrapbook images, or even from stories told to me by my parents and grandparents. Memory can be cunning, powerful, baffling–and deceiving.

All of this likely bodes well for still photography in the face of the GoPro and iPhone video onslaught of today. I believe there will always be something special about a well captured single image that a video will never be able to equal. Yes, video certainly has its place, and I thoroughly enjoy great movies and spectacular videos just as much as the next bear…but the still image has captured my imagination, and that is where I prefer to dedicate my energies.

And I don’t think the still is going away any time soon.