Lost Memory

Hello, if there is anyone still out there.

I haven’t been able to post anything lately because my computer crashed and I lost my hard drive.

I think it is obvious that I am pretty attached to the documentation of my memories so when my computer gave out on me it was a bit of a blow. I still haven’t gotten my computer back and I will need to do some work with the letters before I can post again. But sit tight; there will be more!

It is a weird concept: “Back up your computer memory” so as not to lose memories. With digital cameras there is a lot more documentation of our lives. But this documentation is often intangible and it seems that the stakes are raised. We have a lot to lose and a bigger chance of losing it.

Memories are filtered in our brains so that the most important ones stick. Does the abundance of available documentation impede this memory making process? Maybe this is a chance to explore collective memory – memories outside of one or two people.

Scanning Alex and Sylvia’s letters does not mean we are going to throw away the actual paper. There is entirely different information to be gleaned from a physical “artifact.” Something that my be difficult, of course, to explore through a blog… If you have photographs that are only on your computer, they do not go through the normal wear and tear of a photo that has been handled, labeled, passed around, or pasted into a book. They don’t contain the physical memory that can tell us how loved a photo is or what it has survived.

Martin Parr Photo

My computer crashed – my house didn’t burn down. And a lot of my intangible artifacts exist in email, in other computers, and in cyberspace. Thank goodness. The point is, rely on your human memory, not a machine’s. When you visit the Pyramids take a look at it before you put a lens between your eye and the site.