The Shoreline Community College Gallery presents “World War II Revisited,” photography by Cynthia Bittenfield, now on display through Jan. 28.
Bittenfield’s photographic series pays tribute to her father’s service as a soldier in WWII and to the 60th anniversary of the D-Day invasion at Normandy. The photographs capture the enormity of the individual sacrifice and bravery of those who fought at Normandy. Bittenfield said, “they evoke the futility and finality of war.”
After Bittenfield’s father died, her mother presented her with his leather bound scrapbook from World War II where he was stationed in the Pacific. “I never talked with my father about his experiences during the war,” Bittenfield said. “I wasn’t interested in war and guns and battles. But the photos in the album spoke to me in a powerful way.”
In the album Bittenfield saw her father as a young man — fit, good looking, hopeful, “not the man I knew.” These images, sent home to his family, were his story of the war, “but it is also the story of every soldier, and the album unexpectedly started me on an exploration into history,” Bittenfield said.
Bittenfield had the opportunity to travel to Normandy for the 60th anniversary of the D-Day invasion, and standing on the site of the invasion “brought the events to life in a way that movies and books could not.” One particular moment stands out for her. At the American Cemetery Bittenfield saw a French woman approach an Allied veteran in full dress uniform. “She extended her hand and murmured, ‘Merci, merci, merci,’ a simple sentiment that said it all,” Bittenfield said. “This project is part personal journey and part tribute and is dedicated to my father and all the other brave spirits.”
Photographs from Shoreline Community College’s study abroad photo competition will also be displayed in the Gallery hallways.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
