GOCA

Part 1

Colorado Springs is an all-American city. With multiple military bases, people from all over the country call this place home. It is a very unique city and I, for one, never want to leave!

A mixture of cultures creates a unique experience for the visitor and the long-time resident alike. I consider myself to be in between. I walk along downtown and I see things that I've never even noticed in my 5 years living in this city.

Wandering downtown, I uncovered hidden gems, found old-style businesses, visited popular destinations, and, in doing so, I absorbed the multicultural and diverse community that is Colorado Springs. The life of the city is incomparable to other cities I've found.

Apart from the thriving community of today, Colorado Springs also has a rich history and amazing back-story. Mere people have built this city since the days of the Manifest Destiny. I found it hard to imagine such titans even existed and that even today, the city continues to grow and thrive under the impression of other visionaries. The exploration of the land is finished but creating a welcoming and beautiful community is another feat altogether! 

Colorado Springs is a city mixed with the old and the new. Upon exploring the remote regions of the downtown area, I managed to find things otherwise unlooked for. I always thought the downtown area was most useful on Friday and Saturday nights but it seems another world altogether during the bright of day. With my meandering, I have found renewed love for my city.

Part 2

In the Way of Seeing by John Berger, the author asserts that the use of sight as a sense is different per observer. He claims that as creatures that are able to view our surroundings, we can assume various other facts about this world not necessarily directly related to the sense of sight. One example of this is when he writes “If we accept that we can see that hill over there, we propose that from that hill we can be seen” (Berger 9). With this statement he confirms his notion that with the ability of sight, human beings infer other facts and, in essence, learn. He also claims, however, that sight does not always do justice to the view in which we are beholding. He notes the example of the feeling of love (8). Love is something with which sight alone cannot justify (8). I believe that Andrea Wallace’s exhibit at the Gallery of Contemporary Art also attempts to portray both of these notions.

In her photography, Andrea Wallace depicts different senses or feelings that sight can create. Her notions of feelings of togetherness and the feelings of being separated create the idea that through a mere picture, one can infer other facts and in some cases, the sight alone does not justify the feeling. It can, however, create a world of inference with which to fill in the blanks of the story of the photographs. It is left to the observer to interpret the meanings of the photographs and infer what he or she wills. Through the use of sight, the observer creates an idea of meaning or lack of meaning behind the artist’s implication. As a “sight which has been recreated or reproduced” (9), the image “embodies a way of seeing” (10). I believe Berger would agree that the images of Andrea Wallace’s exhibit embody a way of seeing specific to the photographer and at the same time keeps a separate interpretation for the observer because of their separate way of seeing.

Works Cited

Berger, John. Ways of Seeing. London: Penguin, 1977. Print.