Ashley SDOHS Class of 2021 | Anjeanette Photography Phoenix
/“The neat part about pictures is when life changes the memory doesn’t have to”
Music: "No Limit" by IamDayLight https://artlist.io/artist/979/iamdaylight
Ashley Class of 2021
Ashley has such an energetic and happy spirit! Her smiles and laughs made this cloudy Saturday senior session shine bright!
The OC grad to be braved the wind like a pro, maybe partly to her Eagle Pride ROTC grit, and posed all over downtown #Phoenix to #PapagoPark in style. Everyones crazy for a sharp-dressed senior! She is still choosing the right after high school experience, but looking at a bunch of colleges and possibly even the photographic arts! Congratulations on your senior year Ash!!! Go get that world!
Science tells us our memories are changing. Changing because of our access to information, computer use, emotional maturity and the world around us. Understanding of what a memory even is has grown. Changing for the better in many ways. In other ways we understand more now that, well, really, what we remember isn’t even true based on a multitude of factors like perception, recall, and our of so human tendency to focus on the dreadful. Modern cognitive theory of a sensory memory, a short-term memory and a long-term memory has always been studied by humans, but really took off in the 60’s and 70’s as medical equipment was able to measure and compile more information to study. When combined with the long history of memory study…we gained a better understanding of how our memory works. Basically, it’s lying to us. Yet we are in control of those half or missed truths about what really happened during a moment that we lived.
Why do I bring this up in the middle of a senior session blog? Because by all reasonable standards this year has sucked. We know it, everyone is saying it’s the worst, all the news confirms that everything is terrible and it is just going to get worse and worse with an excited gleam in their eyes. Those who should be our most trusted elder members of society complain, and yell, and have told us they have looked back and compared to all memory this is the worst year ever in the history of forever. They are not wrong that it’s been terrible. Heartbreakingly we have lost so many souls we can't get back. Another reason photographs of those we love are so very important! The election turmoil has hurt us all. We cannot deny the hurt our society inflicts on so many of its members from people of color, to women, to those differently-abled. We have to do better. We all have pandemic fatigue we cannot let win.
We need to be safe and careful- we need to look to faith and science and stop ignoring the dangers of climate, the treatment of others less privileged, and political concerns. We also need to breathe, stop hoarding toilet paper, and live a little too. Neither can we forget the improvements this new era has brought us, it’s better by far than medieval times, so we know we are capable of great things. No pressure,eh?
We can’t always 100% trust our memory-which isn’t such a bad thing after all! We have a generation of kids here- Gen Z- that is the most well-informed, compassionate, strong, and thoughtful generation. Just because maybe not everyone appreciates that or understands their TikToks and IG posts and writes them off as just kids (exactly as THEIR parents and grandparents did before them- nudge-nudge) doesn’t mean it isn’t true. These kids are poised to be the next greatest generation. Support them. Celebrate them, help them. and get their moments of joy in a tough world truly memorized in a photo whenever you can. They are also the most documented and photographed generation so they can handle it hahahahah.
Find moments of joy and photograph the shit out of them, then hold onto THOSE good memories instead!
The brain in general, and memory, in particular, has a distinct negativity bias. It pays more attention to, and highlights, unpleasant experiences.
The brain typically detects negative information faster than positive information, and the hippocampus specifically flags negative events to make doubly sure that such events are stored in memory.
Negative experiences leave an indelible trace in the memory, even when efforts are made to “unlearn” them.
This is probably an evolutionary adaptation, given that it is better to err on the side of caution and ignore a few pleasant experiences than to overlook a negative, and possibly dangerous, event. - THE STUDY OF HUMAN MEMORY https://human-memory.net/
If we can’t trust our memory then what can we trust? Trust photos! Trust how you feel right now. Enjoy the moments, smile, and be present. Capture the good times and hold them tight. I always ask parents to get in some photos during sessions- parents GET IN THE DAMN PICTURES. Your kiddos deserve a photo of you together. Nobody who really matters gives a crap if you gained some COIVD pounds or don’t like your bangs. They NEED those photos of you for the hearts mamas.
One of the major lessons of memory research has been that human memory is fallible, imprecise, and subject to interference. Thus, although observers can remember thousands of images, it is widely assumed that these memories lack detail. Contrary to this assumption, long-term memory is capable of storing a massive number of objects with details from a (photographic) image. -
Visual long-term memory has a massive storage capacity for details by:
Timothy F. Brady, Talia Konkle, George A. Alvarez, and Aude Oliva
Look to change the world in one of the ways we all can every single day: do good whenever you can, care for each other and yourselves, smile and remember happy times and make happy times now with complete obstinance. Being happy in troubling times is an act of defiance we need more of. Be a rebel. Be like Ashley! Smile and laugh through the cloudy days and rock your senior portrait with confidence and happiness. Thank you for coming to my complete ramble of a Ted Talk ;p
Phoenix Graduation Pictures & High School Senior Portrait sessions
Peoria AZ photographer Anjeanette.Photography
http://www.anjeanette.photography
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@phoenixseniorphotography
•Artistic | Dramatic | Fun | Unique | Creative •On-Location Natural Light and In-Studio Fashion Senior Portraits •
•Hundreds of Locations to shoot your Senior Pictures in Studio, Nature or City/Urban location
•Easy, relaxed Senior Portrait experience for Guys
•Nationally published and featured Senior Photographer Anjeanette
•Artistic and fun for Seniors with Memory involvement easy simple pricing for Parents
•Peoria, Glendale, and Phoenix Arizona area
Natural & Strobe Light On-Location & Studio Fashion-inspired Senior Portraits Available to shoot your Portraits in Studio, Nature, or Urban location Easy, relaxed Senior Portrait experience for Guys Nationally published and featured Artistic and fun Memory involvement easy & simple pricing for Parents
I am trained and educated as both a photographer and fine art painter. BFA Illustration 1999 Summa Cum Laude honors Savannah College of Art & Design 2008-2013 Portrait photographer Various Professional Photographers of America classes and workshops SEAN BROWN PRODUCTIONS Film Course 2019 Project Obscura Sal Cincotta Las Vegas 2018 David Bean Lighting workshop 2015
Featured in:
TheSenior Best Print Magazine
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Shutter Magazine Senior Issue Print x3
Awarded “50 to Follow in 2019” by Senior Inspire
Senior Inspire Magazine Instagram (featured 5 times)
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Senior Guys Style (3 times)
The Vibrant Senior
The 2K Grad IG
Senior Model Magazine
Seniorolgie Magazine
#TTFmagazine (seniors)
Senior Year Magazine
Senior Study Hall Print Magazine
2015 Senior City Features
Named Expertise' top 24/240 Photographers in Tennessee 2016 & 2017
