AUDIO SLIDESHOW and BLOG: Moving Wall

Meadville Tribune

July 27, 2008 11:17 pm

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Vet tells what he sees looking at the white names on the black wall of the Vietnam Memorial Moving Wall from The Meadville Tribune on Vimeo.

Blog entry from Richard Sayer/photojournalist at The Meadville Tribune:

Vietnam Veteran Theodore R. Mason, of Erie, took a few moments after touching the white names of 44 of his "brothers" whose names appear on the Vietnam Memorial to explain to me what he and other vets see and feel as they visit the memorial. He explains that most people don't see what they see.

I think he's probably right.

I had made a slideshow- static.cnhi.zope.net/flashpromo/meadvilletribune/flashpromo/video/movingwall/index.html -of the opening ceremony with audio of an interview with a Mason standing just a few feet away from the wall when it made a stop at Edinboro University in May.

I wasn't happy with the slideshow overall. Mason's words were powerful, but my slideshow was not. I used too many photos, some just to show a part of the event that really didn't capture anything that reflected in the veteran's words. Not so strong pictures tossed in with strong pictures of Mason really diminished the power of the presentation. This is a second attempt at producing something worthy of Mason's words.

I know i can't fully capture what veteran's feel in my pictures, but I felt it was important to make my telling of the story stronger, because of the strength of the subject. Its the most difficult thing, giving proper due to our subjects in the brief time our paths cross. And without truly understanding what they have had to endure.

Meadville Tribune video production and photographs by Richard Sayer

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