Reaction to Miracle

Reaction Paper #1

This story confused me the first time I read it but after reading it a second time I started to understand what the author was trying to get across. I think in this story she is talking about how the miracle of the human mind is and always will be a better scrapbook of photos than anything someone could fabricate by physically capturing photos. Unfortunately the human body does tend to purge all of these valuable memories with age. And this is why all those pictures we take when we are with family and friends are so important.

As I read the story I couldn’t help but think of my wife’s grandmother who passed away a few years ago. She was suffering from Alzheimer’s and at times didn’t even know her own husband. The strain of memory loss is one that I think is very hard on families and tends to bring them closer together. I also thought of the movie The Notebook. This is such a good movie and every now and then my wife and I will take it out and watch.

The pictures that stood out most for me were; Sand on Table by Gabriel Orozco, Songs of the Sea by Ruth Torne-Thomsen and my favorite was the children’s faces by Christian Boltanski. The Sand on the table makes me think of my upcoming vacation to Mexico and sitting on the beach with no one around. The Songs of the Sea reminds me of a couple different things. The first would be my high school mythology class and the different gods and monsters involved with that era. The second is kind of funny; it reminds me of one of my kids’ favorite movies, The Water Horse.

My favorite picture was the children’s faces. The actual title is in German and I don’t know what it says. I really like this picture because the children all look so happy even during the time period it was taken (1939). There were a lot of things going on in Germany at that time that I think it would be hard for anyone to be happy. This just shows how a child can be happy in almost any situation.

Reaction Paper 1

Reaction Essay 1
Miracle by Kim Zorn Caputo
The article by Kim was a little confusing to me. I had a hard time understanding just what she was trying to get across, I had to read it multiple times but I think she is trying to say that we take pictures so that we remember the moments in time that mean something to us. We all have memories good and bad and pictures bring those memories to life so that we do not forget. Some memories we try to forget and may rid ourselves of those pictures to help with that process. Everyone is human and has memories that are a history of their lives just like our books and pictures are of history itself.
The picture that stands out the most to me is the picture of the monarch butterfly Anima 5 by Peter Campus. I think this picture stands out for me because it brings back memories of being little and running around the yard and through my mom’s flower gardens around our pond trying to catch the monarch butterflies. This also brings back memories of the days just before school starting because that is when the monarch’s would start their migrating flight and there would be dozens of them or more around the yard.
I also liked the picture called Picnic by Sally Mann. The memories of me having picnics with my siblings are brought forward by this picture. Many days as young children we used to have picnics in our backyard and sometimes mom and dad would join us and we would have a fire in the fire-pit. What fun it was and this picture remind me of those wonderful summer days spending time with each other.
As you see in what memories are brought forth for me I am sure that there are memories for all of us that one or more of these pictures brings forth for each of us.

Art of Digital Photography

Reaction Paper 1


Memories don’t wash away, they are like the art you put on your skin. You can remove them but you’ll still have the memories of them. The memories of a pasted loved one. That will never be forgotten and to share the memories with your little ones. They have their memories of grandma and I have my memories of my mom, so we make a trail of memories together that will never go away, there here to stay and carry on. The little ones will carry on their memories of their memories. If the memories start to fade in our minds we have the picture’s to bring back to mind.

Kim Zorn really puts her writing in to aspect, how she can be doing one thing and it brings memories of another thing and to add a different idea to her writing and from the pictures she see’s and granulating into a total different memory. Her writing is just amazing as she pick pictures that are different from the cover. Whether it’s painful or happiness there is still memories.

Blind spot #33 Fireflies:

This is fireflies fling around at night making memories for them self, where ever they go, there memories, what they do is memories. Just like us there making memories for us to remember them in the night time. What we do or go there’s always memories.

Caputo is right when she says that we take memory for granted. We really don't realize how important our memory is to our life. When we feel down thinking of happy past memories can make us feel better. Just like some past memories can make us feel angry or sad. Imagining my life without my memories makes me think I would be empty. Who I am is made up mostly of my past memories. I am so grateful for pictures because they can help me travel back to happier times.
Having have worked with Alzeimer's patients I have seen how people slowly become someone else to their family members. They don't recognize the person that their loved one is anymore. Because of this my favorite picture was the untitled by Robert Selwyn. You see the person and you know who they are, but they are not clear to you anymore. Just like I would imagine life to the patient would become blurrier every day.

Reaction Paper 1

While reading this article I began to vision myself as if i was an old lady.
I then began to realize my memory at the age of 26 isn't as great as it should be. I am constantly reminded of how I should live my life at a slower pace
and make everyday a memory before the clock ticks my life away.I like how the article stated "We always have the choice to look or turn
away", in photographs and your memory.You can take yourself back
for that moment you need and then forget it or reminisce on exciting ventures you have encountered.
I think it is very important as a parent to be able to provide
pictures and journals of your children because their memory when
there little seems to fade away just like when you get old.

The two pictures i found most interesting were John Baldessari's "Puzzle" and Lee Friedlander's "Rockwood". The photo by John is interesting to me because it shows a piece of your life. Inside the puzzle piece there is a lamp and picture hanging from the wall. It reminds me of a living room, where people spend a lot of time making memories or just your day. The picture by Lee is a tree that looks like it has been there for many years and still standing strong. This picture is interesting to me because I see a tree filled with memories. Imagine all the things a tree would witness if it had eyes.

Reaction Paper 1

Memory is very useful in our lives we use it everyday and you don't even realize it. Memory we take advantage of it when we can remember where are house is. Just the simplest

things can not done without memory. Working with elderly has had me look at how you can remember your daughter and the next day you don't know who your daughter is. The things you do everyday can trigger what you remember where you put something and you could not find it. It is very impressive that are brain can take its own pictures and remember it. The brain is almost like a SD Card and it just stores it on file.

The way Kim explained memory is that you need to keep some kind of record of what has happen in your life so when you do need to sort out when certain events happened you can. As soon as we remember something it connects to the next and brings on a whole new picture. Your memory is always growing it may be cloudy sometimes until you reconnect two together. When you look and pictures you remember what you were feeling at that moment. The feelings you have when you look at pictures might be hard to handle.

My favorite pictures would have to bePrague by Patrick Faigenbaum(left one) and Boy and mask by Jerald Frampton. They are trying to be sneaky and they look like they are trying to make a plan of some sort. This picture makes me want to know what they are planning or talking about.It kinda looks like the maid and a rich guy. The second picture is just to cute, the little boy is scared of it but his curiosity wants to get closer. He wants to touch it but is a little unsure on what is going to happen if he touches it.

Welcome / Reaction Paper One

Welcome to our course blog! This week, you'll be posting your first reaction paper/essay here. The topic is Kim Zorn Caputo's essay in Blind Spot magazine. I encourage you to approach reaction papers with a sense of freedom in your writing. They are truly opinion papers that will give me and your classmates an idea of how you felt about the assigned reading. I also encourage you to insert images where appropriate. The beauty of a blog is that is allows us to do this pretty easily.

Here is a sample reaction paper from a previous class:

Our memory is indeed one of life’s greatest, most precious gifts.  Often, we take it for granted until the day it fails us.  Having worked with dementia or Alzheimer’s  patients for years, this topic hits home.  Patients who are starting to forget often have a journal where they write down each days happenings so that the next day when they have forgotten the last, they can look back and see what went on.  Often times, their families will put together photo albums of common, everyday things as well as photos of those who are special to them in a hope that they will not forget. 

Kim Zorn Caputo has an interesting way of describing how memories of long ago can be inadvertently triggered when doing the most menial of tasks.  We are reminded through her writings it is important to document our lives in some fashion so that we have that to look back on when our memory fails us.  Without a memory to remind of us of all of our love, family, friends, good times, etc…we are basically empty.   Through art, we all have a way to document our lives.

The photos in Blindspot #3 were amazing.   The two I found to be the most tied to the subject of memory were the photos by Robert Selwyn and Duane Michaels.  Both of these encouraged extra thinking and processing of the visual information on the part of the onlooker.  The first photo, untitled, by Robert Selwyn was blurry, a little creepy and reminded me of an old-time puppet doll.  The second photo by Duane Michaels was a photo of a man obscured by light.  Both are great photos to spark thought. 

The photo I found to be my favorite and the most interesting was the photo by Vernon Reid of the cemetery.  It actually gave me chills upon seeing it.  It is so sad to me that we all work so hard our whole lives to be “somebody”.   It seems so important in today’s society to have certain things or to look a certain way.   This photo brings me back to reality that we are all the same, we all have the same destiny.  All these “things” we all think we “need” are, in the end, meaningless.