My final project consists of some archive photos and rephotographs. I found all the old photographs online, and then made a “modern version” of them.
My goal is to help the viewers to see through time. It is easy for people to forget history and forget to give credits to what was new then and old now.
McLuhan said, in today’s world, “time has ceased”. I agree with that. If it’s not this project, I wouldn’t be searching for old photographs and learn the stories behind them. The former students’ life doesn’t seem to matter a lot to me. Yet, these photos can bring history to life. I got to understand former students’ life a bit better. Like, what is their cultural norms, how they study for and take exams. (not through personal computers but on write on papers)
They are not so much different from me actually. The way I see the world and environment around me today is the same as how they see this campus back then. From the comparisons, one can see that some elements weren’t changed for 30 years, but some were updated. The buildings and facilities nowadays look modern to me and seeing them for years, I’ve already got used to the way they are right now. It was interesting to see what are they like before.
Acknowledging these makes me feel grateful for where I’m living and also understanding that someday in the future, my photos will also be used as archive photographs for the same purpose.
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This makes me think of Plato’s forms honestly. When I’m looking at all these different buildings, it looks like they have changed — but have they meaningfully? Has the “form” of them shifted, or just their physical manifestations? Like, main hall might look a bit different, but it is still main hall. I think the most interesting set of photos is the one of memorial hall. I know that Memorial used to be the student center, like Warch is now, and it is interesting to see how that you compared old Memorial to New Memorial, as opposed to comparing Old Memorial to New Warch.
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