Nostalgia is a feeling we experience on a daily, which is a sentimental longing for the past. We tend to think about the past sentimentally as some memories are comforting and make us feel good when looking back on them. Because we already know what has happened, even it is not reality anymore, but an illusion in someone’s mind, it still is truthful to that person. it is easier to think of the past as that already happened, where if a person thinks of the future, it is an abstract thought that is not real or truthful, meaning the future or thinking about the future is unsteady and not certain to happen. Nobody knows what is going to happen in the future, therefore it is much more comforting to think about the past.
Above I’ve created a mood board of what to me nostalgic photographs look like. some are of a places that give a comforting feeling, or are a documentative photographs of places that no longer exist, for example someone’s bedroom from the 90s, where all items are a description of that time. some other photographs I’ve included are of people doing activities that are nostalgic to them, like roller-coaster rides. I think the photographs that look the most nostalgic to me are more old fashioned photographs, that would be taken with a film camera, as they have an older feel to them. Same with images purposely edited to give that similar effect.
As people feel good when they think of positive memories, most of the photographs are of happy moments or moments that a person can look back on in a positive way. This is why I think to capture nostalgia in photographs, it should represent a place or person in a positive, cheerful way, so that when another person is looking at it, the photograph also connects to their nostalgic past.
Above I’ve created a mind map of what the potential “triggers”, which are categories that would make people think of a specific memory because of a certain specific smell, experience, food etc. It is a certain thing that links to memories, for example when eating a certain food, the taste could remind a person of a time when they tasted that for the first time.
People- a person can bring back memories in all kinds of ways, for example not seeing a family member or an old friend for a long time, then suddenly visiting them again in the future would bring back nostalgic memories of what you did with that person in the past. even not seeing a person for a long time alone, could make someone nostalgic of them, and start to miss them as they are a reminder of the past.
Food- following a similar concept of not experiencing a certain taste for a long time can cause not only longing for the food but also for the memories that are linked to the taste. for example being a child ad having warm milk before you go to sleep would be a link to a pleasant memory of laying down in the covers or watching tv etc., then by having warm milk as an adult, this could trigger the memory of when you would have it as a child.
Places- places is quite a broad one as every memory happens in some sort of place, however by going back to a place you grew up in will make you nostalgic of memories that were formed in that place, especially if someone was to move somewhere and left “home” behind, visiting then makes it more meaningful. in everyday life, when we are unable to visit a childhood place, which could be a comfort zone, what often some might do is find new places that give a similar feeling as the past one, and find a new home in them.
Media- this is tv commercials, music, movies, or any other media material. Seeing a movie that you once saw before will bring back the memories of maybe the people you were with or the place. same with music, when you randomly would be reminded of a song that you forgot even existed, the sound will sound similar and bring back memories associated with that song, like what life stage you were at, who you were with, first time hearing the song, etc.
Experiences- Again experiences are quite broad as any of the past, places, people, music, all like to past experiences, as all memories are experiences, however doing a certain activity, like sailing, could bring memories of doing this for the first time or in the past in general.
Scent- Scent could also come in the pair of food, as scent is very recognisable when your eating a food. but maybe the smell of the place or even a person, which could be the actual place or person from the past or a new place or person, could trigger a though of experiencing that in the past. for example the smell of fresh backed bread in a bakery, could be a link to another place you would visit in the past of a similar smell.