How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
"I think you're wrong," I said, and felt even more determined to learn how to develop TJ's film. Then the true story would come out, with TJ at the center of it, the hero of it all. (4.32)
For Jamie, the pictures are a way to prove her dad wrong. After he claims that TJ probably hates it over in Vietnam, Jamie feels certain the pictures will show him otherwise. We'd like to point out that Jamie isn't interested in the photos for art's sake—at least not in the beginning.
Quote #2
TJ had a good eye. You'd look at pictures he'd taken of an old stone wall circling round some ancient city, and you'd see things you hadn't when you were standing right in front of it. You'd see the images the shadowy parts of the stones made, or the little piece of graffiti someone had drawn where the wall met the ground. (5.3)
Sounds like he's a great photographer. We love the idea of having an eye for something because it really brings home the fact that this is an art form. It's not just that TJ is snapping pics, tourist-style. Instead he's carefully framing his shots and coming up with the most artistic compositions possible.
Quote #3
But after TJ enlisted, his pictures changed. One, he started taking pictures of people. Two, he started taking pictures of the moon. (5.7)
It's only natural that Jamie notices a difference in the types of pictures TJ takes before and after enlisting. Before, TJ wants to show off his artistic side; after his basic training, though, he's more invested in showing different views of life. Sure, some pictures are of the moon and others are of people, but both highlight the importance of existence.
Quote #4
"It's got shadows in it," TJ explained. "From the craters. I think the shadows are interesting. And I like the idea that now there are human footprints on the moon's surface. There's something pretty cool about that." (5.9)
To Jamie, the moon just isn't that interesting. Not so for TJ, though: He sees all the shadows and grooves of it in his pictures. TJ reminds us that the moon is both constant and always changing. That's really what his art is all about, if you think about it.
Quote #5
It's a funny thing, printing a photograph, because when you're in the process of doing it, you're paying attention to the tiniest things, like the fingers on a hand, trying to get them to show up in sharp detail, or bringing out the shadow falling across somebody's face. (7.21)
Developing pictures is a good exercise for Jamie because it makes her stop and pay attention to all the minute details she normally misses. Instead of focusing on the overall picture, she has to hone in on small details. Jamie learns to focus through art.
Quote #6
Each little piece of the picture is like part of a puzzle, and the more defined you make everything, the more your picture tells a story. (7.21)
We love the idea of a picture being a puzzle that comes together through development. It also allows Jamie to interact with her brother while he's at war in a way a letter just doesn't. By developing his pictures, Jamie gets a glimpse of what it's like over in Vietnam through TJ's eyes.
Quote #7
I took the picture from TJ and examined it more closely. There were bags under the Colonel's eyes. He was carrying a briefcase, but by the slump of his shoulders, you'd think he was carrying a suitcase full of cement. (8.43)
As far as Jamie's concerned, her dad loves his job and the army… until she sees one of TJ's pictures. Jamie only realizes her dad's true feelings through the pictures that TJ takes where the guy looks tired and overworked. Pictures are a way of expressing stuff that's hard to say, especially in this army family.
Quote #8
But once I'd gotten into the darkroom, I took my time developing the film, working carefully as I could so the negatives would be perfect, no marks, no scratches, nothing to get in the way of what I wanted to see. (16.2)
We get to hear a lot about the process of developing film. It's an art form in itself, and one mistake and an entire photo could be scratched or altered. It's not that Jamie wants to see the pictures her brother sent as quickly as possible—developing film takes time, focus, and a whole lot of patience.
Quote #9
There's a moment in the darkroom, when you hang your negatives to dry, that you finally see what occurred the moment you opened your camera's shutter to let in the light and make a picture. I was learning that half the time me and my camera had been looking at different things. (16.4)
The camera comes to life through the film here. Jamie draws a distinction between what her camera sees and how she views things, and we like the idea of the camera having a mind and eye of its own. She reminds us that pictures capture a split-second of life, and sometimes, they aren't an accurate portrayal of what's happening. They are more artistic and abstract than reality.
Quote #10
And when he came home, when the war was over, he would look at all the pictures I took of the moon while he was gone, one for every day, even on new-moon days, when the moon hung invisible in the sky, and he would stare at them for almost an hour until he finally said, You got all the ones I missed. (16.45)
It's only fitting that Jamie keeps her brother's fascination with the moon alive through photography. This allows him to see what he missed while he was a POW in Vietnam, plus TJ gets to see the moon's shadows through someone else's eyes—or should we say lens—for once.