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The Power of Photography

Today I was doing my volunteer shift at the Uptown Gallery in Waterloo. A young person came in, my guess would be early twenties. They asked if I knew where to get a copy of a photo of the Grand River flood of 1974, specifically the photo of a police officer standing waist deep in water in front of a store. So I had to ask why they wanted this photo and how do you know about it given the event happened before you were born. Their answer was that they had seen it somewhere and had stuck in their memory. Equally interesting is that I knew exactly what photo they meant after 44 years. When I got home I related the storey to Susan and she too knew the image. My guess is that most people who live in Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge and area know the photo. This photograph has become a part of our history, to represent the event and to many, became their memory of the event. There are many examples of photographs becoming the symbol for the event on a larger, more global scale. I find it interesting that this also happens on a local level.

To see this photograph by Mike Hanley,Canadian Press check out this link

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