Remembering The Past

As we move toward the Christian celebration of Easter, the Jewish Eight Days of Passover, and the Buddhist New Year, I have been saddened by the terrible damage to one of the most iconic structures on the planet – Notre Dame.

As I was editing my last photo trip to the Maldives and Sri Lanka, I had Meet The Press Daily on with Chuck Todd. A statement made by Chuck struck me. “The future of the past is not guaranteed.” and the thoughts of this statement swirled in both sadness – and understanding. I looked back at the images from Sri Lanka, more particularly George and my ascent to the top of Sigiriya (Lion’s Rock). Sri Lanka is a multi-cultural island nation with the predominant religion being Buddhism followed by Hinduism, Muslim and Christian.

Those of you who have made the 1200 step journey celebrate this accomplishment in many ways with most identifying the physical demands to reach the top as number one. I had to think about it. Yes –  was I thrilled to climb 660 feet up the steps on the shear face of this massive natural structure? Of course. But once at the top, I took in the view of the forests below that harbor some incredible animals. In addition to soaking the view in, I learned from our wonderful guide, Marlon, the history of this national treasure and World Heritage Site.  Why did I quote Chuck? It reminded me that with everything currently happening on this planet, it is important to revere past cultures, history, and places of worship – architectural wonders of the world.

It is the experience of climbing Sigiriya that cemented the fact that nothing is guaranteed – unless we make it happen. As with the paintings by Caroline, there is a history of the Melanesian people through her portraits. In a review by the American Museum of Natural History while the very first exhibition of the Mytinger Collection in the New York Herald, 1930, it was said:

“Experts of the AMNH have judged her canvases to be such authentic representations that they placed the pictures on exhibit in the museum last month. Glowing with rich hues, vigorously and surely modeled, these paintings reveal, as no flat black and white photographs could, the actual gradations in the color of hair, eyes and skin of the various South Sea Island tribes, the muscular contours, the characteristic facial expressions of the different types and the vividness of their decorations and natural backgrounds.  For this reason alone, quite aside from their artistic merit, they are extremely valuable records – and records quite likely to be unique.”

From  the team at Headhunt Revisited, we wish you a Happy Easter, a Joyous and Kosher Passover, and Buddhist New Year on the first full moon in April.