For some time now I have had a keen interest in the study of dopamine and its effects on human behaviour. It was thought for some time that dopamine was a pleasure chemical and so was released when humans enjoyed an experience. However it has since been proven that dopamine is more present in the brain when we are anticipating something we enjoy. The ultimate goal of this being to drive humans to obtain the things we want. The video below explains how in a simple experiment dopamine was manipulated and monitored in apes.
There are many parallels to photography to draw upon when listening to Sapolsky. If the desire for the treats that are given to the apes was replaced with the disire to take a quality photograph, the dopamine release and the patterns of behaviour are easily comparable. The strife for creative perfection is exactly the same lust that we see in the experiment. The analogy can be taken further by replacing the 50% chance of success with using film photography. Not only does this incorporate chance into the process but it also adds more time between the initial spark of dopamine and the recieving of the reward ( the processed image) thus lengthening the chemicals release. The third comparison is that digital photography can be replaced with the 25% and 75% success rate, as although there is still a risk that quality will not be achieved, it is monitored as the photos are taken. This removes some of the risk and our anticipation of the images, in turn giving us less dopamine.
It’s easy to see that when we put time between taking the image and being able to see it, as well as adding the risk of technical failure in the form of analogue photography, we increase our dopamine levels exponentially and not only enjoy the experience more but find the final image more satisfying having endured the prolonged process.
A J Carlton 