Why do we remember some things about our childhood, but not others? Well, we do have some thoughts on the matter if you’ll indulge us.
One popular explanation would be that we tend to remember stuff that has made the most enduring impact on us. Another reason might be that we remember as much as we were able to at a certain point in our lives—science has shown that children can form their earliest memories as early as when they were 2 years old—and that’s that really.
But one more explanation of why we remember what we do from childhood has to do with what we were told about our childhood. So if our parents never let us forget that first time we face planted and tasted fresh grass, or that other time we cried when we dropped our ice-cream cone, that could very well end up being our earliest first memory.
Finally, there is one more reason why we remember some things and not others—and this is our favourite explanation of all really, as newborn photographers! We tend to remember the events of which we have visual confirmation of. Or to put it more simply, we remember what we see in photographs of ourselves as we were growing up.
So what exactly is the purpose of this first, slightly rambling blog post doing on a newborn photographer’s website? That’s a good question.
Firstly, as vintage millennials (read: very old millennials), we tend to take photographs of everything, like literally everything. Food, our feet, the sky, and of course, our love ones. And as newborn and family photographers, we enjoy capturing memorable images of perfectly posed up babies, as well as emotional interactions between parents and their little ones.
What if we could somehow remember the day we were born, or that time we learnt to sit, or our first steps? Obviously these memories would be impossible memories to have since we’re all human here.
BUT, we could all perhaps IMAGINE what it might have been like to experience those milestones if we had some photographs documenting them. And yes, smartphones are excellent ways for almost everyone to take photographs of their little ones doing the cutest things. But professionally taken photographs are important too!
Now don’t act all surprised. You knew where this was headed the moment you clicked on a post by a bunch of newborn photographers.
Babies don’t remember much about when they were babies, but photographs help them to have that glimpse of just how cute they once were when they are all grown up one day. And as parents ourselves, who spend most days wondering where the time has gone and why our little munchkin is growing up so fast, a good photograph goes that much further into helping us remember the “good old days” when they were so itty bitty, and we were just too darn exhausted from all the feeding, crying, rocking and diapering to remember anything at all.
But don’t take our word for it. Just pry open an old photo album from when you were young, and you’ll know exactly what we mean.
Written by Timothy Fernandez © Copyright 2019 Bows and Ribbons Photography