Wow. That one triggered a big flashback. I turned over all the photographs I had of my first real girlfriend to her; there were very few nudes, but she wanted to erase herself from my memory. She even rifled through all my negatives and took those too. I resolved to never let that happen again; it wasn't fair. There were some fine photographs in there, including this survivor. But what I really hated to lose was a photograph I can still see in my head; it isn't even recognizable as her, it only showed her neck, chin, and mouth arcing through a rusted metal portal. One of my favorite photographs of my early period, and it's gone forever. I suppose it's a matter of trust; people get worried that their image may be misused. But my photographs are pieces of my life, and you just can't have whole chunks of your life ripped away without a fight. But it sounds like Nguyen Trong Thanh lost his fight. Just another sad backpage story in a rather sad time.
