|
Bittenfield’s 20 photos were taken during
her trip to Europe for the 60th D-Day
Anniversary in Normandy. Some images
feature young, smiling soldiers preparing
for battle while others embody
countless graves. Most are desolate photographs
of old battlefields and scarred
villages that were ravaged by WWII. All
images are in black and white, suspending
them in time and space.
A photograph that embodied the
sense of loss was “Sunday Morning,”
which featured black chairs scattered
on a path. Countless white grave markers
fill the background in straight rows,
hinting at the devastating effects of the
war. “You can see the magnitude of loss,”
said Bittenfield.
Most photos came with a note that
was written by Bittenfield’s father while
he was stationed in Australia and New
Guinea during WWII. They were originally
on the back of her father’s photos
that he sent home to his family, and
were given to Bittenfield after her father
passed away, along with his scrapbook.
After revisiting her father’s memories,
Bittenfield became interested in
WWII and incorporated the event into
her work. She wanted her photos to embody
the idea that in a war, everyone loses
someone and is scarred by the culture
that embodies warfare for years.
“Somehow, there’s a potential to carry
on the sense of loss,” said Bittenfield.
“I think it affects more than the
individual.”
After traveling to Normandy to witness
the war’s aftermath, Bittenfield
recalled observing a French woman repeatedly
thanking an Allied veteran for
his service in WWII.
“It just says that 60 years later, there’s
still that sense of gratefulness,” said
Bittenfield. “This woman was probably
a child at the time or just a young woman.
I don’t know what it’s like to live in an
occupied land. I’ve never lived through
that and I can only image the gratefulness
that people felt.”
Bittenfield later traveled to Cambodia,
where took photographs of killing fields
and prisons that were used during the
Khmer Rouge regime. She is still completing
this project. Although she looks
forward to completing her Master of
Fine Arts at The School of Visual Arts in
New York, Bittenfield also wishes to continue
capturing the essence of warfare
through her photos.
“It’s a multifaceted experience,” said
Bittenfield. “You can think about it on
so many different levels—that sense of
loss and on an individual and societal
level.”
| 
)