Where We Have Been and What We Have Seen

There are images we cling to, which is what photography is all about — from those early don’t-move-don’t-blink-hold-still daguerrotype portraits to shots of the Earth from space. It’s all about retaining our experiences here, and the need to share that. Lacking a camera we still make do.

Forty three years ago I spent a couple months at Fort Jackson, Columbia SC. When Santina and I drove by in transit from Myrtle Beach I looked for familiar sights but saw none. My memory of Fort Jackson is that of on-going discomfort; but there was one experience I do cherish. Well into a forced march on a steamy South Carolina afternoon, while trainees straggled, some dropping by the wayside, I was suddenly and inexplicably suffused with the taste of strawberries. A bit of personal contraband that certainly brought a smile to my face; something tucked away and hung long ago on the wall of memory.