ANGELA B. PAN

Going through some old images, I found a couple of interesting images from my visit to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum back in 2017. Growing up in the Washington DC area, this museum was one of those that had a huge impact on me. I may have been too young, but I just remember being so scared of this museum. I think at that age, I probably did not know how to communicate what I was feeling and all those feelings just turned into fear. Ever since then, I sort of avoided the museum.

Fast forward to 2017 and growing up to be an adult, I can now appreciate the museum. If we’re just looking at it from an architectural standpoint, it is beautiful and so unique. My favorite are all the skylights in the entrance of the museum that lights up the main hallway.

From an educational standpoint, I think this museum does an amazing job of showing just how horrible this period of time was. There are so many images and artifacts that it’s difficult to leave the museum unscathed. So if you do plan on going, be warned that you won’t leave the same person.

My camera settings for this image are F6.3 at 1/500th sec and ISO 400 with my Sony A7II and 16-35mm.

It’s been a while since I’ve visited the Holocaust Museum in DC. The first and only time was when I was in elementary school. It wasn’t a school trip or anything but it was an experience that was hard to forget. I remember the hall of shoes and wanting to run out of that room as fast as I could. I also remember being so relieved once we were done with the museum because it was that emotional and heart-breaking. As a young girl, I don’t think I completely understood what I was looking at but even then I knew I didn’t like it.

So when the opportunity came up to visit the museum again, I was hesitant. I wasn’t sure if I was still ready to visit all those emotions again. However this time was different. I was asked to visit for a social media architectural tour in honor of the Holocaust Remembrance day at the museum. The concentration was on the building itself however my favorite part was listening to Holocaust survivor, Margit Meissner speak. Her story of escaping the Nazis were both heroic and inspiring. She wore a pin that said “What I do Matters” and I will carry that mantra with me for as long as I can.

This image is from the Tower of Faces. An overwhelming three-story hallway of portraits of families, children and people devoted to the Jewish community in Eisiskes, Lithuania. Just looking into the eyes and faces of these people was so powerful. In the middle of the image is my friend, Zack. I didn’t tell him to pose like that or anything. It’s was just his natural reaction to try to capture it all. I think we were both just totally blown away by this particular room because we both walked in saying “Wow”.