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kouiskas — Memorial

Published: 2010-03-15 20:52:40 +0000 UTC; Views: 1616; Favourites: 36; Downloads: 22
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Description The light in that place was amazing and it really made the shot. Only thing is... that place is the holocaust memorial in Berlin.

When I took this picture I was observing people visiting the memorial and despite the subject matter, grayness and bad weather, some visitors were actually playing hide and seek in there. Is that being disrespectful? Was I disrespectful by taking what is almost a fashion photo in that place? I thought about these questions for a while and I think it is all actually very cleverly part of the design.

The area of the memorial where you can actually experience the horrible details of what happened is underneath that sculpture and it's a very dark series of rooms. The visit is in almost complete darkness with simple displays telling the story.

And when you go outside to the sculpture area seen in the photo, the light goes from dark near the ground (because of all the blocks surrounding you) to bright light in the sky. Which leads me to think that while on first impression the series of gray blocks are meant to be a dark representation of what happened, it's actually meant to be the optimistic part of the remembrance. The place makes you look up, towards the light, while keeping the dark past never fully out of sight.

I hope that people who were playing hide and seek got the message, even subconsciously.
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Comments: 10

guardianhorse [2011-02-15 06:32:17 +0000 UTC]

I've been there! We went there on my exchange trip last summer. A great place to take pictures

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jedininjagirl [2011-02-11 14:02:48 +0000 UTC]

Wonderful shot.
I wish I could have made it to Berlin...
I did see Dachau though, when I went it was winter and everything was cold and quiet. It felt quite eerie...

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Kindness [2010-04-20 16:04:16 +0000 UTC]

This is so beautiful the light really touches the subject and adds so much feeling to the photo.

loves it

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Paddington-Owl [2010-04-01 10:43:49 +0000 UTC]

Enchanting.

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HristinaGalabova [2010-03-17 09:16:25 +0000 UTC]

Hi,
I featured you in my journal [link]

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kouiskas In reply to HristinaGalabova [2010-03-17 11:38:31 +0000 UTC]

Thank you

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HristinaGalabova In reply to kouiskas [2010-03-17 12:10:25 +0000 UTC]

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Scorpidilion [2010-03-16 23:32:19 +0000 UTC]

perfect shot

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godofodd [2010-03-16 14:17:44 +0000 UTC]

My first thought on seeing this in my message centre was related to the recent controversy surrounding the fashion shoot there. I viewed the image in detail before reading your comments, and I'm pleased to say I had reached a similar conclusion. The photo is very optimistic. History should serve as a reminder that lifts us up to better ourselves, not drag us down to the pits of despair.

This is a very moving photo. The hint of a smile portrays far more positive emotion than one would expect to find in a place remembering the holocaust. I, for one, think that's a good thing.

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ArtBIT [2010-03-15 20:56:58 +0000 UTC]

Truly amazing capture.

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