What the record shows
If I need proof that looking isn't the same as seeing, all I need to do is think back on my visit to the Church of Bet Mercurios in Lalibela, Ethiopia. Now that I've looked at the photos from that visit, I realize the church houses three paintings of St. Abbo. Until then, I hadn't the foggiest recollection of what I'd seen in Bet Mercurios, much less that I'd come across three very different interpretations of a distinctive story from Ethiopian religious history. During such visits, would I be better off living in the moment and really seeing my surroundings instead of photographing them? I think the answer is no. My memory is not photographic. Given how quickly visitors pass through these important sites, it would be astonishing if I could remember I'd seen three paintings illustrating the same story, much less remember the details. With photographs, I'm effectively augmenting my memory
- Date
- Not recorded in the catalogue
- Object type
- sacred art
- Recorded place
- Ethiopia