I strongly believe that there is no one aspect of society that benefits from photography more than another. If I had to choose the biggest impact overtime it would be on ‘Who We Are’. Photography has the power to capture moments in time, and allow us to revisit, or expose ourselves to something we may have never had the opportunity to see. This allows us to capture history and begin to reflect on our pasts as well as our future. I would love to believe that certain historical photographs have changed our perceptions, views, and evolution of society. Magazines like Time and National Geographic have published many photographs with important impacts over time. Photographs are mementos of time. They can represent moments of fleeting importance, or merely a scrap from the past that en captured a time and place, only revisited through the photo itself.
Historical photographs like most in the Smithsonian allow people to navigate through time. Through the photographs you can learn about different cultures (clothing, rituals, religion), how certain cites/countries have evolved through the decades, and even where our ancestors originated from.
If anyone, or their family has ever kept, or made a photo album it too acts as a reference point of our lives. When I look back at photographs my grandmother has collected of our family I can clearly see the changes I have gone through in the last twenty-four years. My friends, my travels, pets, important days like graduations, birthday’s, other family member etc. In the end most of my identity is presented in these photo’s. I believe they are a clear representation of who I am.
In order to know ‘Who We Are’, we have to know where we have come from. Through history, through mistakes, and the changes we have made through time. Luckily photographs allow us to document these moments. It is important to remember that like anything the face value of a photograph is always more than you think. If treated in the right context photographs have served as a visual representation of ‘Who We Are’, for many years, and photographs will continue to tell the story of ‘Who We Are’ for many years to come.
Historical photographs like most in the Smithsonian allow people to navigate through time. Through the photographs you can learn about different cultures (clothing, rituals, religion), how certain cites/countries have evolved through the decades, and even where our ancestors originated from.
If anyone, or their family has ever kept, or made a photo album it too acts as a reference point of our lives. When I look back at photographs my grandmother has collected of our family I can clearly see the changes I have gone through in the last twenty-four years. My friends, my travels, pets, important days like graduations, birthday’s, other family member etc. In the end most of my identity is presented in these photo’s. I believe they are a clear representation of who I am.
In order to know ‘Who We Are’, we have to know where we have come from. Through history, through mistakes, and the changes we have made through time. Luckily photographs allow us to document these moments. It is important to remember that like anything the face value of a photograph is always more than you think. If treated in the right context photographs have served as a visual representation of ‘Who We Are’, for many years, and photographs will continue to tell the story of ‘Who We Are’ for many years to come.
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