The following is excerpted from the March/April issue of the Photographic Resource Center's bi-monthly newsletter, in the loupe.

A Note from the Director
As we absorbed the rush of emotions that began with the devastating events of September 11th, each of us questioned our perceptions of and our roles in society. Individually, we tried to make sense of a changed world or, at least, a world of which many of us were ignorant. From an organizational standpoint, we questioned how the PRC could contribute to the healing processes in which we, as communities, are engaged.

During a Board of Directors/staff meeting held shortly after the attacks, these questions replaced the typical conversations about budgets and long-range plans. Discussion focused on how to turn these feelings of sorrow, frustration, and vulnerability into constructive and positive initiatives. Understanding the PRC's primary responsibility as an advocate of photography and photographers, the Board and staff of the PRC committed to the presentation of an exhibition that would thoughtfully explore the gamut of visual responses to the events.

In the process of developing Six Months, A Memorial, it became increasingly clear that the range of visual responses to these tragedies was vast. We discovered how futile any effort to reflect the entirety of visual responses would be. Perhaps, this ubiquity of visual memorials is the poignant legacy of this healing process. Certainly, Six Months, A Memorial would be a completely different exhibition if we were to develop it again.

Our ability to comprehend these events and our complex emotions was aided by a universal vocabulary of imagery and the efforts of imagemakers. While Six Months, A Memorial features some extraordinary visual responses within an extremely familiar presentation format, we, as Leslie points out in her comments, see it less as an exhibition and more as a tribute to memorials. We hope that, in this way, Six Months, A Memorial will make a positive contribution to our community's ongoing recovery.

Sincerely,

Terrence Morash
Executive Director

Keeping with the tradition of memorial making and this sensitive subject, we realize that it is vital to have feedback as part of this event. We invite you to leave comments and/or bring your words and pictures to be included in a section of the presentation.