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What does “Memory Place” mean? In my travels, and I can’t remember where (ironic, huh?) someone explained to me that there are cultures that have what they refer to as memory places. In essence, it means that if you were to look at a map of, say, Glacier Bay in Alaska and you’ve never been there it doesn’t represent anything more than the features of the land. If I were to look at the same map, I could show you the place where a humpback whale swam under my kayak or where I watched a wolf walking on the beach. I could show you where my kayak and I were picked up by a little cruise ship and given dinner, hot chocolate, and a shower in exchange for entertaining the guests questions on what I was doing so far out in the middle of nowhere for 3 weeks. |
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My pictures represent “Memory Places” for me. For example, my favorite picture I’ve ever taken is of the full moon as it started to slip behind the ridgeline just to the west of Denali (Mt McKinley). As part of a 3 week Alaska trip I had been camping for a few days at Wonder Lake campground in Denali National Park with my mom. One night, at 2am while burried in my warm sleeping bag I heard her say “Keith you better get up!” Assuming the worst, I jumped up to find a full moon just east of Denali and not a cloud in the sky. By the time I got my camera gear out the moon was disappearing behind the mountain, so I sat there for about an hour, and a little after 3am as the moon started to peek out from behind the mountain the sun began to rise. |
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