Yes, this is me . Photography is an elegiac art, a twilight art. Most subjects photographed are, just by virtue of being photographed, touched with pathos. An ugly or grotesque subject may be moving because it has been dignified by the attention of the photographer. A beautiful subject can be the object of rueful feelings, because it has aged or decayed or no longer exists.
All photographs are momento mori .
Precisely by slicing out this moment and freezing it, all photographs testify to time's relentless melt. It's interesting to contemplate how deeply the photographic image has altered our society, our perceptions of ourselves, of our children, of the milestone events of our lives, of our travels and possessions. The commodification of memory is certainly one of the most curious developments of Western civilization. I'm trying to make sure not to spend too much time on these things, as I have an inkling that they could become addictive. Then again, the quality in some of the games I've been playing is so remarkable that it could be looked at as almost on par with reading good short fiction.