I forgot to remember…

or when every moment is captured and none are remembered.

Koi fish in motion

We take more photos now than at any point in history. With our phones, burst mode, live photos, and endless storage, we snap every moment just in case. But then what happens? Most of these images vanish into the black hole of our camera rolls—thousands of pictures we never look at again. We technically “keep” these memories, but we never actually revisit them.

This is the irony of the digital era: we’re documenting everything but remembering nothing. It’s not that the photos are of poor quality; it’s that there are simply too many. When every moment is saved, none of them feel special. We scroll past last week’s photos as if they were from five years ago. We promise ourselves we’ll sort through them later, pick favourites, and turn them into a project. However, that “later” never comes, and our archives keep piling up.

The irony is painful—our tools are intended to help us remember more clearly, yet the sheer volume of images blurs those moments. A folder full of sunsets that seemed meaningful at the time turns into a wall of interchangeable orange skies. Friends, trips, and small victories get buried under screenshots and accidental pocket shots.

However, it doesn’t have to stay this way. The solution isn’t to take fewer photos—it’s to look back at them more often. Set aside time to go through your digital dust. Mark the images that still evoke feelings. Delete the unnecessary ones. Print a few. Transform a forgotten afternoon into a small series. Give your photos a purpose beyond just taking up space.

The real value of photography emerges when you revisit your pictures and let them remind you of things you didn’t even realise you’d forgotten—the way a room sounded, the scent of a place, or the tiny details you overlooked while shooting.

“I forgot to remember” isn’t just a complaint; it’s a wake-up call. If we don’t revisit what we’ve captured, we’re merely hoarding pixels. But if we slow down and truly engage with our archives, those forgotten moments can start living again.

And that’s the whole point of taking the photo in the first place, just in case.