Among my travels, one of the places I stayed for several days was Caen, France, in the area of Lower Normandy. It was a beautiful area, but even now, 60+ years after the second world war, you can still see the awful damage the was wrought on the area. Some of the historic landmarks are still, mostly, in one piece. But there are others that are mere shambles, skeletons of their former glory after the bombs that destroyed much of Normandy. It was very sobering to walk through the city and find random remains of megalithic structures.
While I was there, though, I went to see the World War II Memorial Museum. It was informative, as museums usually are, with lots of information and conjectures and photography and memorabilia from the war.
It was the photography that stood out to me more then anything else... It was amazing, shocking, beautiful, horrifying, any number of other adjectives. Some of the shots were simple, quick photos(Well, as quick as they could manage them at that time), but others...Truly shocking. And knowing how long it takes sometimes to set up a photograph, the artistry in them was almost shocking sometimes, knowing they would have had to sit, staring at their subjects, for who knows how long.
The museum tracked everything from twenty years or so before the war, to a couple years after it was declared over. So much to take in, all of it a reminder of huge mistakes people have made in the past.
It was a very disquieting place to go to, especially going out the door into bright sunshine. Polar opposites.
I know this museum isn't really that relative to "art history," as it were, but I wanted to make a post for it anyways. I'm also horrible at wrapping up posts with an ending that makes sense. Whoops.
I couldn't take a whole lot of pictures in here, the lighting wasn't bright enough for any good shots, so here's one from the front entrance... :P
