Akira: I think this thread is worth being marked as sticky, so that anyone can revisit the links easily.
Glad you felt it was that worthy, Akira - it was a staggering assembly of images, which were reprinted in astonishing condition overall (particularly the color images, in light of the passage of time). The kind of project I might have expected of Life Magazine, back in the day.
Larry: But overall, the mistakes I spotted were not too objectionable.
Agreed, but still unfortunate - the little things that a good editor can/should catch. It diminishes the presentation - but only a tad, and certainly doesn't adversely impact the power of the body, and individual, images.
Just surprising that they would take the time and make the effort to assemble this body of work, and not properly oversee the captioning.
M4cr0s: I have a feeling they've just copied old captions in many cases, without giving it much thought. The images speak for themselves mostly anyway. /Mac
Yes.
simato73: Can I say wow...It has taken me three days to go through the horror.
Kurtz
The colour images have a strange, shocking effect. Subconsciously one tends to think that images from the past are black and white, whereas those in colour are from more or less present times (at least, I do).Seeing the black and white images I know that the events depicted belong to a time past, to History. The colour images are a bit of a shock because they make me realise that those events are not as remote as I would like to believe, they could have happened in my lifetime, and could indeed happen again in the future.
The color images had a similar impact on me. Many of those photographed in color were just a bit older than my parents - and not many years before my older sister was born. When I was young, WWII seemed a very, very long time ago. Over the years, I came to realize just how recent it - along with the rest of history - really was. Nothing of human history is so very long ago...
simato73: It is almost impossible to believe that so many people were capable of such cold, absolute evil. Back to Fenelon (Vanessa Redgrave's character): "But they are human. Just like you. Just like me. That's the problem. Here we have learned something about human nature, and it's not very good news."
That's the core of it: all civilizations throughout time have perpetrated untold horrors on others - individually and societally. Here: the horrors we have wrought over the centuries - against each other, against minorities and those who were different, in other lands and countries in wars both just and unjust... It is in our nature, back to our reptilian brain. But the nurture of our families and culture - the choices we make at every turn in the path, during every election, at every decision which thoughts to entertain and which to disallow - make all the difference in the end.
There is a legend among the Cherokee Indians:
An old Cherokee said to his grandson, who came to him with anger at another young brave who had done him an injustice, "Let me tell you a story.
“I too, at times, have felt a great hate for those that have taken so much, with no sorrow for what they do.”
“But hate wears you down, and does not hurt your enemy. It is like taking poison and wishing your enemy would die. I have struggled with these feelings many times."The old Cherokee continued,
"It is as if there are two wolves inside me. One is good and does no harm. He lives in harmony with all around him, and does not take offense when no offense was intended. He will only fight when it is right to do so, and in the right way.”
“But the other wolf, ah! He is full of anger. The littlest thing will set him into a fit of temper. He fights everyone, all the time, for no reason. He cannot think because his anger and hate are so great. It is helpless anger, for his anger will change nothing.”
“One: full of joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith. The other: full of anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority and ego."
“Sometimes, it is hard to live with these two wolves inside me, for both of them try to dominate my spirit."The young Indian looked intently into his Grandfather's eyes and asked,
"Which wolf will win?"The old Cherokee simply replied,
"The one you feed."I am grateful that so many others also appreciated this collection of images. For me, there was so much here - the individual power of so many of them, they enormity of the sense of time and place that they conveyed - in each section as well as overall, the importance - particularly in light of the ongoing madness of war all across the globe - of remembering. There is so much strength in the memory.
Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend of happy memories and captures -
Scott
