OUR BRAINS ONLY REMEMBER THINGS IN THREE WAYS:
- Through highly emotional connection, like deep joy or deep trauma
- Through repetitiveness over a long period of time
- Through printed photos
When one of these ways isn’t available, the memory will fade and eventually get archived, deleted from consciousness. We only remember our lives through one of these “anchors”.
We’re all affected by this, whether we’re aware of it or not, but the most vulnerable and deeply impacted are the younger generations. Millennials, X-gens and every child born in this century already have huge blank gaps in their memory because they have very few, if any, printed photos of themselves to remember their lives by. It’s a terrifying thought.
A life lived and not remembered, what kind of life is it? This is the equivalent effect of Alzheimer without the sickness, and we’re giving it to our children.
Like climate change, we’ve come to a tipping point where the trend has to be reversed before it’s too late.
There’s an urgent need to reassert the value of real photographs through mainstream media and raise awareness not just among photographers, but throughout society at large.
To reverse the belief that files inside a phone are photos.
To help people understand the value of printed photos is to preserve actual memories in the brain, and that it’s not just a nice-sounding cliché for photography websites.
Our children deserve to remember their lives.
As photographers, it’s our responsibility to undo the damage now – if we don’t do it, who will?
Many of us understand that flickering social media pictures are transient and vulnerable, and a few are already hard at work about it, but individual, smaller movements and events tend to stay very much within the confines of the industry – eventually becoming little more than a hashtag – or become too demanding in terms of personal time and effort to be able to gain momentum, and have enough impact to reach mainstream media.
Eyewitness will be a worldwide movement to support all photographers – and make their work easier and more impactful – by spreading this conversation into society and arguing for immediate action, involving mainstream media, influencers, and anyone who will respond to our appeal to make sure our children get their memories back.
We all have – or can make – connections in the media: magazines, newspapers, radio and TV, or social channels. Eyewitness aims to provide materials ready for publication, broadcasting and events, as well as collecting stories and testimonies of the reality of this social emergency.
HOW CAN YOU TAKE PART?
- TELL YOUR STORY
We all have stories of forgotten life. Write it and we’ll publish it on the website. Add a photo if you can, or record a video if it’s simpler. - TELL YOUR FRIENDS
Everyone has stories, everyone can contribute. Get their stories, too. - PRINT YOUR PHOTOS
Scroll through your photos taken this year, pick 100 and get them printed. Then go back for as many years as you can, and print some more. Your family will love them, and you’ll start reversing the trend in your home right away. - TELL YOUR LOCAL PAPER, TV OR RADIO STATION
Send them links to press releases or connect them to us for the information they need. - ORGANISE A LOCAL EVENT
We’ll have resources and ideas for you to download, print and hit the ground running. Involve your local community, your gym, your knitting club… no group is too small to make a difference. - MAKE A DONATION to keep this going and growing.
We want to organise events, produce videos and materials, make a lot of noise. This is a non-profit organisation and every penny counts. It’s also tax-deductible, so a win/win for everyone. - REGISTER HERE to volunteer and work with us.
Right now we’re looking for:
- Video animators
- Journalists and writers
- Social media managers
- Translators
- Event organisers
- Press and Media managers
- Sponsors, of course.