Describe a moment and analyze: “Write about a single experience or moment, and ask: how does this moment, experience, or encounter relate to my essential question?”
One of my essential questions for my project is: What can we find in NYC when we stop to look? Just the other day, I visited the NYC AIDS Memorial. As I was walking around and taking photographs, I went up to a few people and asked them if they knew what this structure was for. Most people just shook their head and went back to talking to their friends or listening to music. I talked to this one person who was a tourist from France. He told me he has traveled all the way from France just to see this memorial. He has lost his great grandfather to AIDS and it meant the world to him to see the memorial in person. I told him I had been asking people if they knew the significance of the structure they were sitting under, next to, and on, but many said they didn’t. We started talking about the importance of paying attention while walking in cities. Like Paris, NYC is one of the most beautiful cities in the world, in my opinion; but you miss so much when you’re not looking.
The other site visit I took this week was to the “Life Underground” statues in the 14th street subway station. While running around the station trying to find as many statues as I could, I wondered how many times I had passed these statues on my way to school. I had taken this train (the A C E) from this station for the past 3 years and I had never seen some of the statues I had been finding before. Why was that? Was I too busy looking at my phone? Rushing to finish homework? I tried to think back in my camera roll to see if I could find pictures I had taken over the years, and I couldn’t find any :(. These experiences were a great start to my project and continued to build the passion I have for this project. I feel like these experiences also began to answer my other essential question: What stories and history are hiding in plain sight? What stories and experiences from strangers do we all miss out on?