For my second media element, I decided to do the collage of photos that I brought in to class, I chose these pictures because they best represent nostalgia through old media to me, I simply made the collage in Photoshop using pictures I had previously taken during different times of my past. Nostalgia is that longing feeling you get when reminiscing about the past, many various experiences can trigger the feeling depending on the person. About 15 years ago, the concept of living in the past rather than the present wasn’t a particularly favourable personality to have, people associated it with yearning for things that will never return and nostalgia became in a way frowned upon at the time. It had even been considered as a mental illness thanks to a 17th century swiss army physician who coined the term based on reasons of the poor mental and physical health of a few soldiers suffering from homesickness. Things have obviously changed and nostalgia a not only not frowned upon but is now considered a “driver of empathy and social connectedness, and a potent internal antidote for loneliness and alienation.” (Adams, Tim. “Look Back In Joy: The Power Of Nostalgia”. the Guardian. N.p., 2017.)
Whether it be looking at old pictures, listening to an old song or watching a movie, everybody has their own personal ritual of remembering the past through these powerful items. In order for an object to trigger nostalgia, it has to represent to the person a relatively clear memory of that point in their lives through it, the stronger the person’s connection with the time of the objects creation, the stronger the feeling of nostalgia they get from interacting with it. Nostalgia can make people yearn to relive their past experience again or better appreciate the future by looking back and analysing previous versions. For example, in video games, there is such a huge expectation on technology advancement that newer state of the art hardware are being made and are flying off shelves every year, as such we get games with photorealistic graphical fidelity and while compared with games from just 15 years ago we can see the immense changes made and gain a deep appreciation for future advancement.
Because we know we can never have the same experience again, capturing these moments through visual and audio media such as videos, songs or maybe even voice recordings store the memories forever depending on the object form and day to day quality maintenance. If the object is well looked after and can stand the test of time, they continue on as the person’s memories in physical form that can never be recreated and could possibly even be passed down through generations.
Bibliography
- Mensvoort, Koert. “Innovative Nostalgia”. Next Nature Network. N.p., 2017. [ONLINE] Available at : https://www.nextnature.net/2014/01/innovative-nostalgia-design-the-future-by-referring-to-the-past/
- “The Power Of Nostalgia: Linking The Past With The Present In Today’S Music Scene”. The Huffington Post. N.p., 2017. [ONLINE] Available at : http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/the-power-of-nostalgia-linking-the-past-with-the-present_us_57f554f8e4b087a29a548538
- Adams, Tim. “Look Back In Joy: The Power Of Nostalgia”. the Guardian. N.p., 2017. [ONLINE] Available at : https://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/nov/09/look-back-in-joy-the-power-of-nostalgia