Elvin Baez
Professor Sean Scanlan
English 1101 section D345
8 November 2015
Photos are precious Memories
The environment inside a photograph helps a person remember all the good times and the bad times of their lives. A photo is able to hold memories that last a lifetime and could be passed down to newer generations. These things should be cherished and are precious to people that have experienced what are in the photos. People use photos to remember when their memories start to fade after periods of time. In Jose Parla’s “Research and Memory” in the text “the place where we dwell: reading and writing about New York City” he states that “these words are time capsules, mixed documents of memory.” It means that words that are written on a wall can never be erased from the memory of the people that wrote it and it will last a long time. So, if this was reworded to talk about photos it would mean the same thing, that photos leave an imprint on people and can last a very long time and will be in peoples memories.
I took two separate photos, the first was in the high school that I recently graduated from and the second photo is from Pier 5 looking out to Manhattan. While I like the second photo of Manhattan “Pier 5”, I like the first photo “Class Full of Music” immensely because I played music in that room in the photo and had my best memories there. In Class Full of Music I went to my old high school on October 16, 2015 and visited the music department in the basement.The studium is the chairs and instruments that were in the foreground and middle ground. Also, there are four double basses and six cellos on the racks in the back near the air conditioner. Besides those instruments, there are signs near the instruments that are helpful tips for new violin, viola, cello, and bass players to help them get better with their music. The room additionally has a hardwood floor and lights every two to three square on the ceiling.
In Pier 5 I took it at pier 5 where there is a soccer field in downtown Brooklyn. There are some picnic tables with beach umbrellas just in case it rains and to the right of the tables there are circular containers that are above the ground. They use them to have BBQ’s when the weather is nice outside and to enjoy themselves. There are also buildings in the distance and the East river is the body of water in the middle ground. One of the buildings in the background is the freedom tower where nine eleven occurred. Also, there are other buildings with interesting designs and look very nice.
These photographs hold dear memories to myself because they both are of places that I spent most of my time at during high school. Class Full of Music, I took of my old school because I was visiting on a Friday, when I don’t have school. I was in the orchestra when I was in my old school, and I played cello for the symphony orchestra and the string orchestra. I never had an interest in music when I was younger and had no interest in playing instrument, until middle school when I started playing in the sixth grade. Once I was admitted into high school I wanted to be in the orchestra and continue playing because I was passionate about music. That room was where I would go to relax, practice, and socialize for most of my high school career.
Pier 5 is one I will always cherish because I would always go to the pier to play handball with my friends there. I’ve played handball for most of my life and it has been the best part of it. I have been playing handball since I was four years old and have continued since because I’ve had a goal ever since to be able to beat my father at handball. This photo reminds me that I have to keep looking forward and remember all the good and the bad times in handball. Handball will always be a part of my life and I will remember every moment of it.
These two photos hold memories of when I was in high school and I will always remember the greatest moments in those places. In Susan Sontag essay “On Photography” she wrote that “A way of certifying experience, taking photographs is also a way of refusing it-by limiting experience to a search of photogenic, by converting experience into an image, a souvenir.” This helps enforce my point because when someone takes a photo they want to be nostalgic and relieve something that was in that photo. Both of these photos are great examples of memory because they have immense sentimental value to myself. These photographs are different in many ways because they represent two different ways of life that come together to make great memories.
These photos are different for many reasons, like how one is inside a building and the other is outside where you can see the world in a different perspective. In Class Full of Music, I have fonder memories of because it was the place that I spent most of my time and made the most of it. Pier 5 is also important to me, but the first one has considerably more memories of my life. Music and handball require passion and determination, while looking at your surrounds like the second photo doesn’t require anything, but it still has a huge impact on people’s lives no matter the perspective. While one photo is about music, the other one is about sports and the open outdoor, and these two important elements help me remember who I am.
Parla, Jose. the place where we dwell: reading and writing about New York City. Dubuque: 2014. Print
Sontag, Susan. ESSAYS OF THE 1960’s & 70’s. New York: The Library of America, 2013. Print
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