Thailand 1987
A blast to the past, before the boom and rise of digital technology and digital cameras
(Figure 1) A physical photo that might have a haunting aura would be the following picture of a landscape scenery taken during a summer vacation in Thailand in 1980. This physical photo (figure 1) is a little dirty, and there is a crease, but that is not what gives the photo a haunting aura. The picture (figure 1) shows a well-balanced nature and civilization, with the luscious trees filling the spaces between the houses. In addition, a body of water right between the two pieces of land, which looks like the body of water, is separating between the city and suburban area. According to Keller (2015), photographs can extend across time, offering people a “look of the past” but at the same time offering people a “reach of the future” (p133); allowing us to automatically link the modern-day knowledge of how development will overtake this peaceful piece of land and become an economic benefit for large corporations. The haunting aura for this photo (figure 1) is the change the city has undergone throughout the decades; most likely, the scenery from the second picture has completely changed into today’s standards. With ongoing land development for the economy, most of these trees are gone, and more houses are filling the area for the growing population. The thought of knowing the development of this land exists and what the area used to look like presents a scary thought of how things can change so easily and quickly and how we can destroy things and build over for-profit and money.
Figure 1
(Figure 2) The next photo is of my mother in 1987, on a boat on vacation, aiming for a gun to shoot into the water. The picture leaves it to the imagination of what my mother is trying to shoot. According to Baetens (2009), photography can represent reality. However, photography does not come with the capacity of capturing movement, and it does not give the viewer any time the impression of being confronted with that reality (144). This picture (figure 2) could have been taken out of context as a different scenario making the picture more ominous, emitting more of a haunting ambience to the photo. Instead of just a harmless ‘shoot the target’ game, which is most likely the situation, someone just looking at this photo could have interpreted this photo in a more harmful mindset. According to Keller (2015), photos can offer a portal not only into time but can also offer fields of vision, changing the scope of a person’s sight by changing the manner and matter of seeing (p. 133). However, Keller (2015) also states, through photography as a practice and mode of seeing and not seeing, is how we gain critical insight into how people look at certain things in life, and why people interpret certain things a specific way and how these things become seen or remain unseen (p. 133). The person could have thought this picture was taken during a hunting game or harming someone or something. The picture gives off a violent and chaotic feeling because no one knows the actual story behind the picture except for the people in the picture and the people involved.
Figure 2