jay rechsteiner
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Forgotten Peopleslideshow I find myself equally captivated and haunted by memories of the past. The act of perusing family albums and immersing myself in photographs opens a gateway into what feels like a more agreeable place than the present. Perhaps, it's because one tends to remember the wound but not the pain. Human memory often selects and preserves the positive and pleasant aspects of the past, serving as a mechanism for maintaining sanity. Yet, I remain uncertain. Memories, those wondrous fragments composed of past events and a touch of imagination to fill the gaps, serve as our anchors to where it all began and who we are. My fascination lies not so much in the scientific intricacies of brain anatomy and memory function but in the intricate connections and disparities between the past and the present, as well as the enduring ripples of time. Reflecting on my own existence, I sense a profound social and emotional connection with events, people, and the zeitgeist of roughly the last century, rather than the eras preceding it. My connection extends back to the time of my grandparents when they were young families. Their concerns, mindset, and cultural interests have somehow endured, influencing me as well. Works by authors like Erich Kästner, Hermann Hesse, and Robert Walser, from a time before my birth, shaped the intellectual landscape of my grandparents and parents, permeating my own time and identity. In a world where everything is incessantly captured by photographic devices, our relationship with memory has shifted. The continuous documentation of events, people, landscapes, and more has altered our perception and appreciation of specific moments. It feels as if we are mindlessly and greedily 'consuming' the world and its impressions. Seeking a more contemplative life, I often find myself wandering through junk shops, delving into the past of others. In one such shop in the seaside town of Margate, South-East England, I stumbled upon dusty boxes containing hundreds of old-fashioned photographic slides. This discovery transported me back to my grandparents, evoking memories of the sound and scent of the old projector. As I perused the slides, portraits of people at significant life events like weddings or family reunions captivated me the most. The way people posed and the framing of the photographs felt markedly different from today. Choosing not to acquire all the slides, I selected only those depicting these poignant portraits of real people. The realization that someone had parted with these slides, deciding to sell or give them away to a junk shop, left me both deeply touched and saddened. These individuals were, and are, real people, and their stories now resonate through the forgotten slides. more: http://jay-rechsteiner-photography.weebly.com/forgotten-people.html
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