Camera Lucida by Roland Barthes

This has nothing to do with the article itself, but I couldn't stand how it was written. It contained excessive and unnecessary punctuation and every sentence seemed to contain (in some way or another), a parenthetical thought. All of these side points (stopping and starting) seemed to mess up the rhythm of the article, somewhat taking away from its content. If you want an example of how not to write, this would be a good one.

Now that my critique of the writing style is done, I can move on to its purpose.

"The Photograph does not necessarily say what is no longer, but only and for certain what has been."

This idea intrigued me. What is the untold story in these photographs? The photo only captures a moment, but what if that moment happened a long time ago? Age changes the meaning of a photograph to the point of creating a feeling of nostalgia or even of disconnect. What if the world looked different in the past? Could you recognize it? In pictures and paintings, the subject is depicted in their present time. These photos that I've been capturing for this collage could any minute become a moment of our past, but who's to know how soon? They say a photograph is immortal, but the subject and its surroundings are not. Going back to a place that a photo was taken will never be the same as being there the moment it was captured. "Is it possible that Earnest is still alive today: but where? how? What a novel!"

My final collage is of the restaurant, Tellers and this article really made me think about how important it is to create a documentation of our world. I just discovered that they will be remodeling the inside of the Tellers, which makes me excited that I will be able to create something I know will soon be "from the past." This is how Tellers used to look. This is how I saw Tellers.

The story of a photographer handing a photo he had taken of Roland Barthes to Roland Barthes, who could not recall the photograph ever being taken, is a circumstance not uncommon to our generation. "When did you take this photo?" you ask a friend after they tagged you on Facebook. As time passes and that experience fades in our memories, photos have an amazing ability to help us remember. At times, a photograph can even tell a story you didn't know you were a part of. A photograph can bring people together to reminisce "the good old days" or an exciting, fantastic event. These photos connect us to the present, but also solidify our spot in the past.

We will be remembered.