After reading "Speaking the Unspeakable: Invisibility and
Trauma after 9/11" and responding to Anthony's blog post I was motivated
to write a whole separate post about how we use photos to access our memories.
The essay starts out by setting the scene of Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 describing
the sound of the plane crashes over a completely black screen. There were a few
reasons listed for this but I believe that the most compelling argument was
that the scene was used to make the viewer recall how they experienced the
terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center without any external influences,
for example, photos or video footage of the event.
This got me thinking about how useful it
is to have pictures as a way to remember past events. Are they even
helpful at all? This question is really about gauging the helpfulness of photos
based on how much they guide the way we remember specific moments in time. I think
that sometimes photos sway our memory of an event so much that they begin to
tell an inaccurate tale. In the example of 9/11 much of my memory is from the
television coverage and the famous videos of the plane number two crashing into
the south tower and the north tower was burning. My other memory of the day was
my elementary school principle coming over the loud speaker telling us what had
happened and that school was dismissed for the day. However, I don’t remember
nearly as much about my day at school than I do about the television coverage.
Over time the videos have started to shape my memory and it is strange to both
think about it and see how my memory has shifted as time has passed.
5 comments:
I think you're absolutely right Will, about how over time photographs begin to influence the way we remember certain moments. My response is more about memory in general than 9/11, but I remember earlier in the semester talking about how posed photographs are not really true documentary because the subjects are aware and acting. This is something I've noticed that shapes my memories of certain life events I've experienced. I may have had an argument with someone before a trip or something else unpleasant may have happened, but when I look back at smiling photos from that time I usually think of the event in a more positive light than what the reality was. I think some of that is due to the immediacy of a still image, rather than digging into deeper memories. I know part of human psychology is simplifying things that are not important to remember, but I think this tendency can cause us to forget important things too.
I think I have to disagree. While photos are not exactly objective, they certainly portray a certain verity in respect to past events. I think it is us that project upon the photo -- nostalgia, sadness, happiness, a sense of loss. The photo doesn't change over time, our memories do. I think seeing a photo certainly sparks a memory, but the memory is our own, those feelings are our own.
Regardless, you certainly make a good point -- reflecting on images certainly brings to light our altered memories.
I really enjoyed your post in that you recounted your memories from 9/11 and highlighted the fact that much of those memories are based in the representations seen on television. That day changed the lives of all of us. Personally speaking, I remember our school principle, a classmate's mother, coming into our classroom sitting on a wood rocking chair as we all sat criss-crossed huddled around her. She told us what happened, trying to tread as lightly as possible in fear that parents would choose to tell a different rendition. For me, 9/11 wasn't just that day, it enveloped my whole life. Three deployments later, my family is still affected by that singular day and the fact that my memories are encapsulated by pictures on a screen only breathes to the how obsessive our culture is with representation and using photography as a way to access said memories.
-Morgan Kirol
Very well written post Will. I really enjoyed how you questioned whether or not it was useful to have pictures as a way to remember past events. I think you are exactly rich that it is case by case in how the photo functions in guiding us to remember specific moments in time. i can completely agree with your experience of that day, and that the news seemed to overpower the memory of that day. I think it is interesting looking at 9/11 photographs because we were not there when it happened, but through the media and photographs we are able to understand and visualize what it was exactly like, living through this frozen moment in time of a memory. However, a memory in a past event say like a birthday party or an irrelevant event that you specifically experienced may trigger thoughts and feelings to you that it may not trigger in others. I do like your point that you think videos have shaped your memory and that it is interesting to see how your memory has shifted. I think the media certainly is partially to blame for that. What they show us constantly is what we remember, and if we weren't there we often will deem it as truth creating our own memory of an event we will never take part in.
I have to agree with Kasia's idea about how we project our memories onto a photograph. I thought about this in terms of how a photograph can mean different things to different people, just like how two people can experience the exact same event and come away with two completely different interpretations of it. Certainly a photograph or a newsreel from 9/11 will illicit different responses from people depending on their experience of the event. I certainly do agree with Will, in that our memories can evolve over time and a photograph may mean something different as our perception of an event develops whether it be through gained insight or experience.
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