Capturing Time

            In the last couple of months, I have been observing in high school and middle school classes in Baltimore City with several of my friends who are also studying to be teachers.  In one of my classes, the students were focusing on reading nonfiction.  Their textbook had an article from the New York Times that interviewed a man who had survived the September 11th terrorist attacks.  When the teacher introduced the lesson, she said, “Now, none of you were born when this happened, but I am sure that Miss Fazio remembers the day well like I do.” This made me feel incredibly old.  When I got back to campus, I mentioned the incident to my fellow future teachers, one pointed out that none of our students will have been alive in 2001. Even now in our observations, the only students who were alive during the event are the seniors in high school, and even then they were too young to actually remember it. During the course of our conversation, I realized that I did not have any clear memories of a day that many consider to be a monumental event in American history. In fact, all I can really remember is the news coverage from the days following.  I almost feel as if my memory has failed me by not retaining this event that is supposed to be deeply rooted in the consciousness of the American people.

            When considering what allows me to hold on to important events in my life, I have realized that keeping photos can help me remember events more vividly. I bring out old pictures from my trip first trip to Italy and it brings back memories of trying gelato for the first time and going out to dinner with my boyfriend at the time. While the pictures may show these moments clearly, I have noticed that pictures will never be able to tell the entirety of a story because they only capture an instant. My Italy pictures do not show me having a panic attack on Ponte Vecchio- those kinds of memories cannot be seen by any outsider who looks at my pictures. Images often present an incomplete story of events, selectively portraying the past.

            A Beautiful Ghetto uses photography to tell the story of the Baltimore uprising, which occurred less than two weeks after I had committed to come to Loyola in April of 2015.  Reading the introductory essays to the book of photography gave me a new perspective on the events that occurred three years ago.  Allen worked to give a holistic view of the city as the people rose up, and the introductions gave a context for the images. Most striking is the essay by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, who writes, “Rebellions are always surprising in American society because segregation hides Black life from white America” (x). This statement connects the events in Baltimore and the response to them to a tradition throughout time.  There are divisions in American societies that can make the realities of life for different people appear to be different. They still live their lives separately even in an age where the world is supposed to be completely integrated. Tensions can still exists because people do not truly understand each other, so that when one reality is truthfully presented, the other group is shocked and struggles to comprehend it.  This is partially because portrayals of people who are separated are often inaccurate.  The poem “Dinosaurs in the Hood” illustrates this. Smith writes, “Don’t let/ the Wayans brothers in this movie. I don’t want any racist shit/ about Asian people or overused Latino stereotypes./ This movie is about a neighborhood of royal folks” (lines 12-15).  Media can frequently promote incomplete or incorrect portrayals of minorities, even when produced by minorities. Smith imagines a world where the media shows people for their true and complete selves instead of harmful stereotypes.  This kind of a world relates to what Devin Allen seeks to promote in the images in A Beautiful Ghetto; the images of armed police stomping through neighborhoods are a part of the reality, but they are not the only reality.  Allen’s photography juxtaposes images to show things that may be considered conflicting, but work to show a complete picture of life in Baltimore. Most striking to show a full picture of life are the images from pages 64-67. The first two pages show images of people breaking windows and trying to break into buildings- the violence and unrest that the news around the country showed for weeks on end. But immediately after, Allen includes images of peaceful organization- listening and coming together in solidarity. This is the reality that was often ignored, which led to people making assumptions about the city and the protestors. Allen recognizes the limitations of storytelling in a single photograph, and pieces together a masterful work that tells the true story of Baltimore and explores the intricacies of life here.