by Carol
Is the "quiet coffee" a thing of the past? That's a question asked by Julian Treasure, the founder and Chairman of The Sound Agency, and a sound and communication expert. I was recently fortunate enough to hear Julian speak at an Audiology conference, and what he says affects all of us. So I hope you will excuse a post on this photography blog about one of our other senses, because I truly believe in photography as an all inclusive, human experience, not just as a visual moment. Good photography records a moment, which allows our expansive human brains to associate thoughts, feelings and memories in order to create an experience for the viewer. All of our senses are incorporated into that experience.
So, back to that quiet coffee. Our local coffee shops are a concept in friendship and communication. They look so great with all those rockscape walls, natural wooden benches, and slate floors! And the smell of those coffee beans, and the baking make your mouth water - or so you would think. But recent measures of the sound levels in coffee shops show noise levels that average over 80 decibels! There's a name for this - the Lombard Effect. It means that in noisy backgrounds, we tend to talk over the noise, then those around us proceed to talk over us - and so on and so on and so on. Of course, it's not just the coffee shop - its happening everywhere. And wouldn't that coffee shop be interested in knowing that noise at those levels actually decreases our sense of taste? Hard to believe? As a related example, in one of many studies, people eating chips wore headphones that amplified the sound of the crunch at various levels. Although the chips were all identical, those who experienced an amplified crunch rated the chips as better tasting and crispier. It's all related.
Now think about our schools, which are most definitely NOT designed for sound. Speech intelligibility relative to noise is 50 % in the average classroom - and that is an average. What about the kids in the back of the room, the second language or hearing impaired kids, even the introverts - what are they receiving? Then there is our health - one graph shown at the conference showed a rising graphic depicting the classroom noise level. A red line above the noise level showed the teacher's heart rate increasing as the decibel level increased. Those heart rates approached the levels of risk for heart attack. And considering our health again - what of hospitals? Their levels of ambient noise are much higher even than schools - and this is where we are supposed to rest and heal?
Julian Treasure made the point that we study reading and writing, and even speaking - we do not study listening. There is so much more to say - productivity in open plan offices is down 66%. Crime is higher in the noisier areas of the city, and was reduced by 15% in a recent trial where calibrated nature sounds were broadcast on the street. And when your kids were teens, did you ever leave one of those stores in the mall that blasted rock music while you waited for them to try on clothes. Sales is those stores dropped dramatically when louder music was introduced - but nobody is looking!
I am a huge fan of the quiet. It has always been necessary and restorative for me. Part of my photographic style is that I usually depict quiet places, or the backgrounds or aftermaths of the things I'm photographing. I tend to find the waiters' table in the back of the restaurant, the shavings from the carving demonstration, the birds at sunrise rather than the busy city streets; the quiet conversation rather than the big party. That's because those are the places I prefer to hang out. They soothe my soul.
I encourage you to read Julian Treasure's blog and website. You can listen to his TedTalks, read his articles and studies, and download soothing sound tracks to use when you can't avoid being in a noisy place. He includes lots of suggestions for surviving in the world as it is now, and considerations for better considering soundscapes as we go forward in our professions. I hope you will become an advocate for a more peaceful existence, because what you do affects me as well as you.
Do you like to photograph in the quiet places? Will you share some calming images in our gallery this week? It fits right in with our green theme!