One of the biggest tourist attractions on Oahu island is Pearl Harbor. It is one of Americas most sacred memorials. There are 1.5 million visitors per year and most times there is a two hour wait to visit the Arizona. I was very surprised to see so many Japanese tourists there. The strange and surreal seemed to have come to life. I have hiked numerous WWII sites in the Pacific, specifically Guam and Iwo Jima. I thought it was only appropriate that I photographed at the location of the United States entry into the war. Although there was a somber feel to the place, it had a bit of Disneyesque feeling to it. Again, I took on the role of the tourist and had my photo taken by the facilities photographer. As I was having my picture taken I thought about what Joel Meyerwitz said in the August 2008 Focus Magazine.
"It's what photography can actually do best, to describe a moment in "the present", whatever that present is. It's the "eternal present". We sit here in 2008 and we pick up something from 1860 and we look at it from 2008 and it's in our lives. It fills us with wonder ... suddenly you're there and you forget where you are."
What will my son think in 20 or 50 years when he looks at our tourist souvenir? The meaning of the faux newspaper certainly has multiple meanings because of his mixed heritage. The issue is a complex one in which I am exploring in my work.
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