Lafayette Hillside Memorial 2014

Binh Danh made this haunting image, Lafayette Hillside Memorial, using a camera, chemicals, and a metal plate. It feels like a photograph from another century. I imagine him, the artist, carefully choosing his angle, setting up his equipment, and then waiting, letting the light and time do their thing. It's like he's coaxing the image into existence, a slow reveal. Look closely, and you'll see a sea of crosses and some Stars of David on a hillside, each a marker of loss. The textures! The graininess! You can almost feel the weight of history pressing down. I wonder if Danh was thinking about the fleeting nature of memory when he made this? There is a sadness here, a quiet acknowledgement of lives lost that is very powerful. It reminds us that artists are always in conversation with each other and with the past, trying to make sense of it all.