Student photographer Anna Estes featured at Catapult Creative House

“anywhere, anytime” is an exhibition of work by Arrow Photojournalist Anna Estes that aims to represent the present history of Cape Girardeau. The show was available for viewing Monday, Feb. 8, through Friday, March 5, at Catapult Creative House.

Photo by Anna Estes

Estes’ artist statement read:

Photo by Anna Estes

The changes in Southeast Missouri are thrilling; I love seeing and experiencing the new restaurants, boutiques, art and events that are coming to life in this community, but what I fear is that people don’t care about the history that happened 40, 50, 60 years ago and they don’t think that right now is history.

Photo by Anna Estes

To me, Southeast Missouri is a place of preservation, memorializing the ghosts of places and what they once meant to people. It started with me spending my weekends strapped with a couple of Fujifilm disposable cameras, driving around Cape and referring to notes where I had typed obscure notes only I could understand. Such as, ‘buildings on corner by new courthouse’ or ‘by high school with garage and old cars.’

This project expanded beyond just capturing buildings to also preserving old pictures, film slides, postcards, and whatever else may be a forgotten medium. This little thing that started as a weekend activity became a core part of what I am always thinking about — constantly keeping my eyes peeled for those forgotten and unseen buildings, having a sense of purpose to preserve people and places, learning their history, and breathing new life into them.