The impending turn of the century and coming new millennium, gives an opportunity to contemplate time, to look back as well as forward. Historic places are tangible manifestations of times, people, and cultures gone by. They can also represent the hopes of the future, of revitalization. With these thoughts in mind the year 2000 calendar presents a number of Hawai`i's cherished places.Over a dozen of Hawai`i's premier photographers were invited to provide views of memorable historic properties which they had captured on film. From their submittals the images depicted in the ensuing months were selected, with consideration given to presenting a variety of sites and islands.
Photographers play an important role in the way we see the world, and as a result serve an important function in the historic preservation process. Over the past one hundred and fifty years photographs have accurately depicted the changes in Hawai`i's landscape and built environment, and have celebrated the magnificence of these islands. It is through the photographer's trained eyes that the future will not only look at today but also our perception of historic sites. Posterity's only connection to those historic sites which do not withstand the passage of time will be the moments captured by today's photographers. It will be the photograph's visual record which will carry the past into the future. A distinctive building on the eve of destruction, a town before a devastating natural disaster, a bucolic landscape prior to development, without a photographic record only elusive memories would remain of those places which played an important part in the maturation of Hawai`i as a society. Often times, in the case of cultural landscapes or remote archaeological sites, the photographic image may be all that Hawai`i's public will ever see of certain historic places.
A photograph not only serves to record the likeness of a building or place. It can also evoke a mood, often of the photographer's creation, which instills within a viewer the special spirit of a place. Transcending time and the daily routines of life, the allure and lore of a site may be captured. Seen through the eyes of a photographer a place is often given an emotional timbre to which all can respond. To accomplish such ends some employ time honored compositional traditions, while others might rely upon a unique perspective, dramatic illumination or other circumstances of the moment.
The cherished places for the year 2000 strike chords on a number of different levels. Some elicit memories of remarkable people and moments from our island's past, such as Damien's humanitarian efforts at Kalaupapa, or Kamehameha's efforts to unite the islands. Others embody a hope for the future such as Kaho`olawe and the resurrection of that island as a distinctly Hawaiian place, or the Hawai`i Theater's associations with the revitalization of downtown Honolulu's nighttime entertainment and cultural life. All spark a sensibility toward life as it exists and once existed in Hawai`i.
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