Short answer: Not in the popular sense. No adult has been shown, under controlled testing, to store and replay a page or scene like a photograph. What exists is rarer and narrower: brief eidetic images in a small share of children, extraordinary but imperfect memory in some savants, highly superior autobiographical memory, and trained techniques used by memory champions.
At a glance
| Camera-like memory in adults | No verified case |
|---|---|
| Eidetic imagery in children | Roughly 2 to 15 percent of children under 12, by Ralph Haber's estimate |
| Most famous adult claim | "Elizabeth," Stromeyer and Psotka, Nature, 1970; never re-tested |
| Highly superior autobiographical memory | First described by Parker, Cahill and McGaugh, Neurocase, 2006 |
| Savant examples | Kim Peek, Stephen Wiltshire |
| What memory champions use | Learned techniques such as the memory palace |
Eidetic imagery is not photographic memory
The two terms are used as synonyms, and they should not be. Eidetic imagery is a vivid visual image that persists briefly after a picture is removed, so that a person can scan it as if it were still there. Photographic memory, in the popular sense, is the ability to store a page or scene permanently and read it back later in full detail.
The first has been documented, mostly in children. The second has not been documented in anyone. Ralph Haber, one of the psychologists who studied eidetic children most closely, estimated in 1979 that roughly 2 to 15 percent of American children under 12 show the ability. The images usually fade within minutes, and the ability is rarely found in adults.
| Phenomenon | Who shows it | What it does | Camera-like? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eidetic imagery | A minority of young children | Holds a picture for seconds to minutes | Briefly, and often with errors |
| Savant memory | Rare individuals, often autistic | Vast recall in specific domains | No |
| Highly superior autobiographical memory | A small number of documented people | Recalls the events of nearly every day of their lives | No |
| Trained mnemonics | Anyone who practices | Fast memorization of ordered lists | No |
| Photographic memory | No verified adult case | Store and replay a page like an image | Unproven |
The Elizabeth case, 1970
The strongest claim ever published appeared in 1970. Charles Stromeyer and Joseph Psotka reported in Nature, in a paper titled "The detailed texture of eidetic images," on a young woman they called Elizabeth. She was shown random-dot stereograms, pairs of dot patterns that reveal a hidden three-dimensional figure only when each eye sees one pattern. Elizabeth reportedly viewed one pattern with one eye, the second pattern later with the other eye, and fused them from memory into the hidden image. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy describes her as credited with remembering one half of a million-dot random-dot stereogram.
The case did not hold up as evidence. Blakemore and colleagues questioned the method in the same year. Elizabeth was never re-tested; by the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy's account she apparently refused. Stromeyer later married her, which critics treat as one more reason the result needs independent confirmation. A wider search for others with her ability, reported by Merritt in 1979, found nobody with even remotely similar abilities.
Kim Peek: vast recall, uneven abilities
Kim Peek, born on November 11, 1951, inspired the character Raymond Babbitt in the 1988 film Rain Man. By 2006, Scientific American Mind reported, he had learned some 9,000 books by heart and read a page in eight to ten seconds. Brain scans showed he lacked a corpus callosum, the bundle of fibers that connects the brain's two hemispheres.
His abilities were real and lopsided. Psychological testing in 1988 put his overall IQ at 87, below the population average of 100, with verbal and performance subtest scores that varied greatly. Our profile of Kim Peek's IQ covers the testing in detail. His memory was enormous and specialized. It was not shown to work like a camera, and he struggled with everyday tasks that most people find easy.
Stephen Wiltshire: cities from a single flight
Stephen Wiltshire, born in London on April 24, 1974, was diagnosed with autism at age three and was nonverbal as a young child. He became an architectural artist and was appointed MBE in 2006 for services to art. After a helicopter ride over Tokyo in May 2005, he drew a panorama of the city on a canvas about 10 meters long within seven days. In October 2009 he took a 20-minute helicopter ride over New York and then drew the skyline over five days at the Pratt Institute.
The feat is astonishing and still not photographic. Wiltshire builds each panorama by hand over several days rather than printing out a stored image. His recall of buildings and their arrangement is extraordinary, and it rests on decades of looking and drawing.
People who remember every day of their lives
In 2006 Elizabeth Parker, Larry Cahill and James McGaugh of the University of California, Irvine, published "A case of unusual autobiographical remembering" in Neurocase. Their subject, identified as AJ, could name what she had been doing on almost any given date and what day of the week it fell on. The team studied her for more than five years and proposed the name hyperthymestic syndrome. The condition is now usually called highly superior autobiographical memory, or HSAM. AJ later identified herself as Jill Price in a 2008 memoir, The Woman Who Can't Forget.
Her case is the clearest proof that ordinary memory and exceptional memory are not the same thing, and that neither is a camera. AJ had difficulty with rote memorization and did not always do well in school. "What makes this young woman so remarkable is that she uses no mnemonic devices to help her remember things," McGaugh said. Her memory was selective: rich for her own life, ordinary for material she was asked to learn.
Why so many people think they have it
Most claims of photographic memory describe something real but ordinary: strong recognition, vivid imagery or well-organized knowledge. Recognizing a page you have seen is far easier than reproducing it, and the feeling of familiarity is easily mistaken for a stored copy.
Expertise produces the same illusion. In studies of chess memory going back to William Chase and Herbert Simon in 1973, masters recalled real game positions far better than novices but did little better on pieces scattered at random. Their advantage lay in learned patterns, not in a mental photograph.
Memory champions are the strongest evidence of all. None of the world's top competitors claims a photographic memory. They use learned systems, chiefly the memory palace, and train for years.
Memory, intelligence and IQ tests
Memory is one ingredient of intelligence, not the whole of it. Modern IQ batteries measure working memory alongside verbal comprehension, visual-spatial reasoning and processing speed; our WAIS-IV guide sets out the structure. Kim Peek's case shows how far apart memory and overall IQ can sit in one person.
Nothing in this article is medical advice. Anyone concerned about their own or a child's memory should speak with a licensed clinician. For more on what tests do and do not capture, see signs of high intelligence and our IQ guides. Our free IQ test is a practice screener, not a diagnosis.
Frequently asked questions
Is photographic memory real?
There is no verified case of an adult who can store and replay a page or scene like a photograph under controlled testing. Brief eidetic images occur in a minority of children, and some people have exceptional memory in specific domains, but researchers have not confirmed camera-like memory in anyone.
What is the difference between eidetic and photographic memory?
Eidetic imagery is a vivid image that lingers for seconds or minutes after a picture is removed, found mainly in young children. Photographic memory, as popularly described, means permanent, detailed storage that can be read back at will. The first is documented; the second is not.
Did Kim Peek have a photographic memory?
He had an enormous memory, reportedly some 9,000 books by heart by 2006, but it was not shown to work like a camera. His overall IQ tested at 87 in 1988, with very uneven subtest scores, and he struggled with many everyday tasks.
What is HSAM?
Highly superior autobiographical memory is the ability to recall the events of nearly every day of one's life, often with the date and day of the week. It was first described in 2006 by Parker, Cahill and McGaugh. People with HSAM are not necessarily better at memorizing lists or textbooks.
Can you train a photographic memory?
No method has been shown to create camera-like memory. Trained techniques such as the memory palace can produce dramatic gains in memorizing ordered information, and memory champions rely on them. They work by organizing material, not by photographing it.
Sources
- Eidetic memory (Wikipedia) — Definitions, rarity in adults, Stromeyer and Psotka 1970 citation, memory champions do not claim photographic memory
- Mental Imagery: quasi-perceptual experience (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy) — Haber's 2-15 percent estimate, Elizabeth case, Blakemore critique, refusal to be re-tested, Merritt 1979
- Inside the Mind of a Savant (Scientific American Mind) — Kim Peek: born 1951, IQ 87 in 1988 testing, 9,000 books, reading speed, absent corpus callosum
- Stephen Wiltshire (Wikipedia) — Birth date, autism diagnosis, MBE 2006, Tokyo 2005 and New York 2009 panoramas
- Woman's Extraordinary Memory Puzzles Researchers (ScienceDaily, March 2006) — Parker, Cahill and McGaugh in Neurocase; AJ; hyperthymestic syndrome; McGaugh quote; difficulty with rote memorization
- Jill Price (Wikipedia) — Identified as AJ; 2008 memoir The Woman Who Can't Forget
Editorial standard: IQ figures for historical figures are retrospective estimates and are labeled as such; scores for living people appear only when the person disclosed them or a reputable outlet reported them. Corrections: contact the editors.