The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, or more simply the Holocaust Memorial, consists of 2,711 concrete slabs or 'stelae', arranged in a grid pattern on a sloping field. There are no names, religious symbols or inscriptions. This is memorial in abstraction, and more affecting because of it.
The stelae are uniform in length and width, but vary in height. At first the stelae are below knee height, but as you walk further into the field they quickly increase in height, to tower above you. The camber of the sloping cobbled path changes frequently, adding to feelings of disorientation and unease. From the outside, the resemblance to a graveyard is clear. It reminded me a little of the Old Jewish Cemetery in Prague. At the deepest parts of the field, the feeling is more industrial, rigid and unyielding. Isolating and claustrophobic. Both brutalist and brutal.
Over the years I have seen many photos of the memorial, in club competitions and exhibitions. Often the stelae are rendered in low-key monochrome. However, I felt that I needed to include some colour. A small counterpoint of hope against the darkness. Luckily, the trees on the edge of the field were in autumn colour, a couple of the surrounding buildings also helped, and the two Buddhist monks were just a gift. Would I use a different photographic approach on another visit? Probably. This is the kind of location where it is possible to find many interpretations on many visits.
No comments:
Post a Comment