Memento Research Packet

"The body is the primary mode of perceiving scale."

As seen in the photo, my hand takes up a majority of the frame, with the bug being almost in the direct center. The viewer can almost see my nail, but has enough to know that the beetle is no larger than my nail, showing how small he really is. My nail as a reference emphasizes the bug's smallness as the cutoff of my hand shows how close up the picture must be taken, to still have my nail that mathematically takes up a minuscule fraction of the image, to be compared to the focus of the photo.

"The souvenir exists as a sample of the now distanced experience which the object can only evolve and resonate."

I always have had an interesting thought process behind bouquets. On one hand, they are beautiful because of their temporary nature, causing the owner to be appreciative while they are still alive, with the appreciation of the owner determining how long they will last. On the other hand, flowers are a part of the earth and do not deserve to have their life shortened for someone to appreciate them in a setting that is not familiar to the flowers. Nonetheless, I think flowers are the perfect definition of a non-lasting souvenir, emphasizing the feeling of a "distanced experience." Only the true appreciator of the earth and the inhabitants can feel the energy that flowers hold to have flowers act as a lasting memory, despite whether they are still alive or not.

"The souvenir reduces the public, the monumental, and the three dimensional into the miniature that can be enveloped by the body."

Every summer since 2012, I have stayed in North Carolina. Up there in the mountains is the only place where I feel true peace. I often collect tiny stones to bring back with me. I don't take photos of these stones, but I do take photos of the places I take the stones from. Seeing the stones with the context of their home reminds me of the peace I felt while I was visiting, expressed through the memory of the stone. This feeling of peace is a full body experience and provides a full body memory. I remember the feeling of the grass, the smell of the air, and the feeling of the river air.

"Nostalgia cannot be sustained without loss."

I have suffered with mental illness since an extrememely young age. I don't have many good memories; most of them are from ages 3 to 5. I miss the days where I didn't have to deal with the overthinking, pessimism, and cynicism that I do now. As far as I know, the days where I was an infant were my genuinely happy days, and I have no way to remember them outside of already existing photos.

"To have a souvenir of the exotic is to possess both a specimen and a trophy."

Over the summer, I was able to visit the Vanderbilt where a Dale Chihuly exhibit took place. His work, from what I was told, was rare to see in person at the amount that I did. The only proof that I have of this experience are the photos that I took. To have such a photo is to not only show a Chihuly piece that many might not see when simply Googling it, but also as a brag. It shows that I have experienced something that others have not; a trophy.