Mircle of the Memory

Memories begin to fade but the feelings and emotions remain. Memories are very important, they not only carry a person’s history; they tell a story. A person’s feelings and emotions stay with us, it might not be at the surface but they are there. The feelings and emotions become alive when a person looks at a photo and begins to remember a special event. They might remember how the air smelt or how the trees looked, how they felt or how something tasted. "Miracle" by Kim Zorn Caputo is describing a reason why so many people take photographs and how memories can stay alive. I liked how she used the word Amnesia, how often does a person forget a little piece of their past as if it did not exist. Without photographs I may forget what my family did on a vacation, or what my Grandparents experienced when they were young. These are the things that tell a story, they show our own personal history.

Les Eleves de L'Ecole Juive de la Grosse Hamburger Strasse a Berlin le 15 Avril 1939

When looking at a photo that was taken by someone else, a person may think of their own history. This is what I do when I look at the photo by Christian Boltanski titled Les Eleves de L'Ecole Juive. I begin to think of my own childhood and the field trips that were taken with my friends. The photo features many children crammed into a small frame, and yet they are all full of laughter. I can almost hear them laughing. The children appear to be so happy; it is hard to not smile when looking at this photograph. Although I person think of my own experiences when looking at this photo, I also tried to figure out what was actually occurring. Usually the title helps with this but this photo is difficult to analyze as the title is in multiply languages. Grosse Hamburger Strasse is German but Les Eleves de L'Ecole Juive is French and Avil in French is the first of April. Knowing the events of WWI during April of 1939 it is wonderful to see happy children. Perhaps the children were happy due to an April fool’s joke.