Why taking that photo can make us forget the moment

and what we can do about it

We’ve all been there. You’re standing in front of a breathtaking view, the perfect sunset painting the sky in hues of pink and gold. Naturally, you reach for your phone to snap a photo. After all, if it’s not on Instagram, did it even happen?

We take more photos than ever before, hardly surprising seeing as our ability to do so is easier than ever. If you have a phone, you have a camera.

But here’s the problem: science suggests that by taking that picture, we might miss out on actually remembering the moment. There’s a psychological phenomenon for this—the Photo-Taking Impairment Effect (PTIE). Essentially, when we take a picture, it’s as if our brain knows we no longer have to remember the event because we’ve downloaded the information into an external source.

This is a strategy known as cognitive offloading, the notion that we can work around memory limitations by outsourcing information. It’s when we compile a shopping list, so we don’t forget to buy pasta.

Cognitive offloading is a very useful strategy, except when it isn’t.

How Does It Work?

PTIE was first studied by Dr Linda Henkel, who conducted research showing that people who took photos of objects remembered less about those objects than people who simply observed them. The act of photographing seems to shift our brain’s focus from encoding the scene as a memory to outsourcing the job to a device, such as a phone.

Think of it this way: your brain goes, Oh, we got this on camera? Great, I’ll just delete the mental copy to save storage.

Say you visit an art gallery and come out with a phone full of photos. Chances are, you’ll only have a vague recollection of the actual art. Try to describe your favourite painting and you’ll probably find you can’t do it very well. If you can, you’re probably describing the photo, not your experience of seeing the genuine article.

Potential solutions.

Designate a Photographer: Let one person play paparazzi while the rest of you live in the moment.

Photo-Free Zones: Declare certain events or places camera-free. No phones, just fun.

Mindful Photo-Taking: If you really want that shot, take a deep breath, savour the scene for a moment, then snap a quick pic.

So next time you find yourself reaching for your phone, maybe pause for a beat. Let the moment develop—in your mind, not just on your camera roll. After all, some memories are too precious to be outsourced to the cloud.