from Shooting Past 80

In fact, the photographic act requires stamina, sensory acuity, the ability to make snap judgments and to handle equipment that can be delicate as well as bulky. These mental and physical demands, according to researchers, challenge both brain hemispheres and lengthen pathways between brain cells; this, in turn, may promote longer life. “You can infer from brain‑science findings,” insists Cohen, “that older photographers would be high on the list of beneficiaries of brain activity because of all this left‑ and right‑side stimulation. And a new study, selecting for older ‘couch potatoes’ who were [also] engaged in creative pursuits, suggests that activities of the kind photographers are drawn into seem to give a positive boost to the immune system. Which means better overall health and increased longevity.” Photographer Slim Aarons, 80, puts it another way: “A writer can make it up, sitting at his desk, boozing. A photographer has to be on the front lines. Your adrenaline is going. You use everything you have in your body and somehow it translates later on [in life].”

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