Tag: <span>memory</span>

Published October 14, 2017 by

Memory of Where They Used to Be

gone, remnants, ghosts, remember, memory
© Avard Woolaver

Memory of Where They Used to Be (Day 14 of 31)

Memory is a funny thing. Some photographs contain ghosts that not everyone can see. Not ghosts of people, but of buildings, trees, gardens that are gone. Like the sides of city buildings that still show where long-departed neighbouring structures used to stand, some photos show mounds of empty earth, driveways to nothing, tattered remnants of former lives.

Such pictures can have an evocative melancholy for those who can remember what’s missing; but it may be that even viewers who aren’t familiar with the changed landscape can appreciate it. A pang of loss is a universal thing.

Consider taking some photos of places you know well that have changed over the years, and try some different ways of including clues to the past life of this place. For instance, I mentioned driveways that no longer lead anywhere—a sight that can be so odd and moving. If you happen to take a photo in such a landscape, think about playing up the driveway in your picture and showing how it trails away.

Virtually all of us who are older than, say, ten or twelve have many people who are missing from our lives, but that doesn’t mean we’ve forgotten them all. In some sense a photo can still show that same kind of memory: an element may be no longer there, but also not quite erased altogether.

(For the month of October 2017, I’m participating in the 31 Days bloggers’ challenge. You can find out about it here, and check out the interesting work other bloggers are posting.)

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Published May 8, 2017 by

Photo sleuthing and old memories

baseball, Toronto Blue Jays, 1978, Exhibition Stadium, Otto Velez, Tom Hutton,
Otto Velez and Tom Hutton, Toronto, 1978      © Avard Woolaver

Awhile ago I discovered an old slide taken at a Toronto Blue Jays baseball game years earlier. I didn’t remember much about it.

I knew I’d taken it in May 1978—a memorable time in my life. I was on my way to Germany for a university student work program. It was my first trip on an airplane, and my first time in Toronto.

I also recalled that the Montreal Canadiens had defeated the Boston Bruins on that day to win the Stanley Cup. From this fact, I figured out online that the game had been May 25, 1978—a Thursday. A baseball reference website told me all the details. The player at bat was Tom Hutton (#14) and the player on deck was Otto Velez (#19). The Boston Red Sox defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 9-5, with relief pitcher Dennis Eckersley getting the win. The game was held at the old Exhibition Stadium, a venue that was also the field for the Toronto Argonauts football team. The attendance at the game was 17, 197 for the fledgling Jays, who were struggling through their second season.

I’ve found Google Maps Streetview to be another valuable resource for finding the exact location of old photos. There is a sense of satisfaction in piecing together old memories. It helps me remember more details of a photo, or an event. How did I get to the game, who did I go with, what did I do afterwards?

It’s impossible to go back in time, but often it is possible to reconstruct the details of a photo. This can be a worthwhile endeavor as the past recedes further in the distance. Not every day will be one you’ll care to return to in memory; not every ball game is one you would want to sit through again. There are plenty of elements of our past lives that are better left in the past. But, for those memories that are a pleasure to recall, using photo sleuthing to retrieve forgotten bits of the day can add greatly to the texture of a treasured memory.

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1978 Avard Woolaver Ektachrome film Exhibition Stadium memory Toronto Blue Jays