On Longing Assignment

"The body is the primary mode of perceiving scale." - On Longing, Susan Stewart

Perceiving scale is found within the size of the jewelry box. This photo was taken recently, but the memory of receiving the jewelry is very special. 

"The souvenir speaks to a context of origin through a language of longing." - On Longing, Susan Stewart

The language of longing is found in a sense of longing for childhood, this was the first day of second grade. This picture was taken when I was seven years old. 

"The souvenir reduces the public, the monumental, and the three-dimensional into the miniature, that which can be enveloped by the body."  - On Longing, Susan Stewart

To reduce the monumental into miniature, the figures in the picture on the beach are not in the foreground and are instead farther away. This picture was taken when I was eight years old. 

"The souvenir is used most often to evoke a voluntary memory of childhood."  - On Longing, Susan Stewart

A voluntary memory of childhood includes my childhood dog, Buster. He is on our porch, at the same house I mentioned in the fifth picture below. This picture was taken when I was six years old. 

"The place of origin must remain unavailable, in order for desire to be generated."  - On Longing, Susan Stewart

The origin is unavailable, as it is my grandparents and I at my old childhood home that I no longer live in. A lot of my childhood memories are at that house, in our yard, and in my room. This picture was taken when I was five years old.