Assignment 2 -- Heidi Ertel -- Consequences

I took this picture about a year ago when I was in Europe.  One Sunday afternoon, I went to the Dachau Concentration Camp and walked through.  The entire compound was somber and although there were many guests, it was eerily quiet. However, that mood changed when I entered the Crematorium.  I felt as if I was being suffocated; I couldn't breathe.  The atmosphere was really heavy and dark.  It felt as if the quiet of only a few moments before was a roar with how dead silent it was inside the Crematorium.  It was as if the weight and magnitude of the events that happened in the Concentration Camp, as well as the many others, had been thrust upon my shoulders.  Even though it felt so wrong to even breathe, I managed to snap a picture or two to document what I had witnessed.

I have never forgotten those feelings.  They haunt me.  That's why I selected this message.  I wanted people to see and feel what I felt.  I wanted people to look at the Holocaust and remember.  I wanted them to apply it in their own lives.  The Holocaust isn't something of the past.  It happens every day.  Every day there are victims.  Every day there are wrongdoers.  And every day, there are those who stand there, and let it happen.  Look at those actions in the context of the Holocaust.  Now think of the consequences.  We don't need to let different versions of the Holocaust happen every day.  We can change that.

In the photo, I increased color saturation, and, although it was much darker in real life, my camera significantly washed everything out, so I tried to somewhat recreate the actual site.  Along, with the photo, I chose the quote by Yehuda Bauer to help portray those powerful feelings.  Instead of leaving the quote as one sentence, however, I put a period at the end of each line.  I wanted what was said to ring out as if a gavel had been struck before moving on to the next idea.  For the font, I chose "JohnHancockCP" in bold.  I wanted the words to appear heavy and portray the weight and enormity of the events that occurred in that room.  I chose black so that the words would appear visually heavy and take up the space. It also adds to the grimness. I selected the title "Consequences" to give viewers something to think about in the context of both the Holocaust and how similar actions might influence our own lives. 

I commented on the assignments of James Birdsall (Come Unto Me), Taylor Ricks (Escape), Clarissa Oliphant (Tis' the Season), Jordan Wheeler (Drown), and Collin Gingrich (Breathe).