by Kara Scherer
I feel like a bit of a hypocrite when I ask people what they think the most important aspect of place is, because I’m not really sure what it is myself. That’s what’s so fascinating to me. My perception of place is still changing as I learn and think more about it. Right now I’d say that the most important part of place is the people who live there. Community members are the best window into other aspects of place: they are affected by physical factors such as a nearby mountain range or a river running through their city, as well as historical events that occurred there in their lifetime. Community members are the point where landscape, historical aspects, and dominant cultural groups and political beliefs intersect.
In addition, the one thing that makes me feel the most comfortable with and connected to a place are the people who are there with me. Growing up, my family would regularly travel to Germany to visit my dad’s family. During these trips, my family would spend a lot of time in different countries together, but wherever they were I felt comfortable. We would try to get to know the area by visiting the tourist destinations, usually historical landmarks or prominent natural features. However, whenever we interacted with the local people (despite how much it embarrassed me for my mom to talk to strangers on the street), I felt a much greater connection to and understanding of that place. It’s the same with learning about history for me – reading a textbook usually puts me to sleep, but when I get to interact with someone who actually went through it, I sit at the edge of my seat as they tell their story.
This also points to the fact that place is extremely personal and subjective. Although I think people are the most important part of place, I think it’s important to learn about more physical, concrete aspects of place so that it’s not too subjective, but those studies can be done in conjunction with interactions with community members.
One exploration into place that I have done to try to understand it better is a photography project on place. I am a visual learner, and I thought if I could capture an image of what “place” means I would be able to understand it. I asked my subjects what their favorite place on campus was and why, and later asked them what place meant to them. Many of them associated memories with other people in their responses, or just general feelings of energies associated with a place, which complicated my mission to visualize place even more.