This article about memory certainly was hard to follow the first time read. Upon re-reading, I began to relate. So often I find myself smelling the aroma of something familiar yet somewhat unfamiliar. As I ponder with familiarity, I find myself going back in time to the memory of where I was, how I felt, or who I was with the last time I smelled that aroma. I picture what was around me, often remembering exactly where others were sitting and standing, who was doing all the talking or who was being particularly quiet, and who just entered the room. In these moments, I can sometimes mentally place myself back in time and have feelings just as I had when I was a child.
These are the things that I love about photography: it captures where I was, who else was there, how old we were, what we were doing, and the smiles, or lack of, showed our feelings. Capturing that moment when no one is looking or paying attention creates a picture proven to be worth a million memories.
The picture that caught my eye was of the children sitting in a field watching a fire. This caught my eye because it reminded me of Christmas night when I was awakened around 12:30am due to a massive explosion just two buildings from my home. Just as in the picture, my parents, siblings and I, who were all awakened by the tremendous bang, gathered outside and watched the ball of fire roar. We could feel the heat, smell the burning of materials, and hear the crackles of the fire accompanied by many additional, smaller explosions and coupled with the sounds of sirens. As the sirens got closer, we’d wait and watch to read the door on the fire trucks to know which fire department was arriving to help with this fire. We would sit on the snow and gaze toward the fire just as these children are doing in this photo. So close but yet far enough away from danger. These are memories that are so vivid that I could draw them out had my parents given me an artistic hand.
Photos really do trigger a person's memory. And to such great detail like yours. I tend to remember trips all because of photographs. I find that my children do the same. My son told me today that he remembers the first time he held his sister. At that time he was 3. I have a hard time believing it, I think it was because he has seen a photo of himself holding her.
ReplyDeleteI agree, just a simple photograph can bring back such vivid memories. I like how you used the aroma example, it is so true, whenever I hear a certain song it brings me right back to what I was doing when I last heard the song.
ReplyDeleteI agree that a photo can really help someone remember things. It is funny how a smell can remind you of something, or a picture of someone else can make you remember something that has happened in your life.
ReplyDeleteI have memories of dreams about snakes when I was still in my crib. I remember going to the dump (after my first birthday) to pick out my puppy "Humphrey" who was living their under a pile of sheet metal. I am very lucky to remember things from very little. The photos fill in the gaps, and for my Grandparents who did all of their own black and white photography, memories can be alive for generations.
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