While some children exhibit transient eidetic imagery, scientific research demonstrates that true photographic memory does not exist in humans.
Evidence against · 2
Twenty years of haunting eidetic imagery: where's the ghost?
1979 · cited by 142
Haber (1979) reviews decades of research on eidetic imagery (often conflated with photographic memory) and concludes that while brief persisting visual images occur in a small percentage of children, they are virtually nonexistent in adults and do not correlate with superior cognitive abilities.
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More against · 1
An experimental study of the visual eidetic imagery of Chinese school children
1971 · cited by 32
Chang (1971) finds that while a small percentage of children demonstrate persistent visual images (eidetic imagery), it is rare, not widely prevalent, and does not equate to a functional 'photographic memory' that persists into adulthood.