How certain images impact our lives forever

THEY say that a picture is a moment that never fades, and through the lens, we preserve the heartbeats of life.

As humans, we rely heavily on visual cues to interpret and understand our surroundings.

Studies have shown that our brain can process images up to 60,000 times faster than just text alone, which is why incorporating visual technology into our writing, presentation and events will add an extra dimension and have a tremendous impact on our audience.

News photos of the of the 1960 and 1970s – those of the Vietnam war, Kennedy’s assassination, ‘Flower Power’ hippies in San Francisco, as well as the black-and-white early photos of Elvis Presley and the Beatles, and also film stills from epics like ‘Ben Hur’, ‘Spartacus’, ‘My Fair Lady’, ‘South Pacific’ and ‘Camelot’ – will always flash momentarily through my mind’s eye when there’s any mention of these names and events.

Imagine now, how much more powerful are the modern-day images, no matter how fleeting or brief, that we all look at today on our many devices: from our personal computers to smartphones, on tablets, and other devices that we have completely submersed ourselves into.

Addiction is a word not too far from the truth – how many of us can withstand not using our smartphone or computer for more than a day, or even a few hours?

As adults, we may be more perceptive as to not accept everything we see and listen to as God’s truth; we can perhaps tell fake from real, half-truths from propaganda and so forth.

But what about our youngsters?

I am in support of the Malaysian government’s plan to ban the use of social media for those under 16 years of age, which has been proposed for implementation next year.

We are expected to closely follow the Australian model, which became the world’s first country to bar under-16s from having social media accounts, with effect from this Dec 10.

The Australian government ban includes the platforms Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, X, YouTube and Reddit, as well as streaming platforms Kick and Twitch.

Several other countries, including France, Denmark and Norway are also considering similar bans.

It would seem to be a rather drastic move for any government anywhere to impose a total ban on age-specific parameters.

Critics of this move have warned that this could well lead to an infringement of privacy and the right to free speech.

Others feel that it could also increase rebellious behaviour among those affected by the ban, and could well drive the problem ‘underground’ by those who could create fake accounts and log in through virtual private networks (VPNs) to bypass the ban.

VPNs are cybersecurity services that create a secure, encrypted tunnel between your device and the Internet. They work by masking your internet protocol (IP) address and encrypting your online activity, which enhances your privacy and security when you are online.

VPNs are legal in most countries for legitimate use.

However it is best to avoid most free VPNs, which might log and sell your data, offer slower speeds, or have weak security protocols.

Personally, I feel that the users of the Internet nowadays usually have very short attention spans and interests in whatever they do online.

I can remember very well back in the days when only newspapers and radio ruled the news headlines, between the 1950s and the 1970s. We were better attuned to retain the memory of those images and sounds.

From the 1980s to the 2000s, our attention switched to television and the proliferation of print media in the form of weeklies and magazines.

Such boom in mass media had begun to ‘shorten’ our attention spans from an incisive to a more expansive view of the news and goings-ons of the world.

However, the advent of the Internet in the early 2000s has seen a seismic change in our world views.

Nowadays, we scroll and browse, and scan and pick, and we quickly move from one ‘click-bait’ to another.

Our consumption of news and opinions come in bits and bytes – in five-second flashes, which might prolong to at most a minute if it attracted our interest or curiosity.

We have become addicted to ‘trash’ news and viral nonsense. Sorry if I sound judgemental, but most of it is true.

The power to shock and awe has been greatly reduced by the Internet, especially through social media.

I remember when in the 1970s, I had looked at a couple of news photographs with great awe, wonder and sadness, and those of my same era might recall them as well.

The first was a photograph titled ‘The Terror of War’ – a Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph taken at Trang Bang during the Vietnam War, on June 8, 1972, showing a nine-year old naked Vietnamese girl running down a road after a napalm attack.

The image became one of the most iconic and powerful symbols of the war, influencing global public opinions and anti-war movements.

The other was one taken of a very young John F Kennedy Jr taking a salute as his late father’s casket was passing during the funeral.

On a more uplifting subject, one of my boyhood’s most memorable photographs ever from the world of the cinema has to be that of the image of Marilyn Monroe’s white dress being lifted by a gust of air from the 1955 film ‘The Seven Year Itch’.

That famous dress, designed by William Travilla, was made of white pleated acetate to flare dramatically with the wind.

It later sold for an astonishing US$4.6 million at auction in 2011!

The power of such once-in-a-lifetime shots taken by photographers are fortuitous; therefore, warranting our interest and indeed awe when we view them.

Sadly this is no longer true these days. It is just a quick passing interest, with no time to stop and scrutinise the moment captured in the shot.

Personally, my misgivings on the ban on social media for the under-16s would mean it will further drive our youngsters to play even more video-games, most of which are mindless and can ultimately be even more addictive in a negative way.

Other downsides include cutting off opportunities for social connection, learning and creativity that are crucial for development.

However, the positives still outweigh this – it could protect the under-16s from risks like cyberbullying and negative mental health impacts, as their still-growing brains are more vulnerable to factors like social comparisons, anxiety and depression.

Nonetheless, there is never a real or complete solution – we can only hope and pray.