Emorries

a magnifying glass over photos and books

Emorries

n.
vivid memories of a certain experience that you carry in your head for years until they’re casually disputed by someone who remembers it very differently—correcting basic chronology, clarifying a misread gesture, or adding context you never knew—which makes you want to look again at all the images you’ve been using to piece together your worldview, wondering what details might’ve been hidden in shadow all this time, or washed out by your own naïveté.

After documentary filmmaker Errol Morris, whose work often addresses the fallibility of memory and how little of reality can be captured in a photograph. Pronounced “em-uh-reez,” like memories, but with a piece missing.

Halfwise

a train coming towards the camera shot from the tracks

Anti-Aliasing

Cover image for the Anti-Aliasing word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Tirosy

a close-up of a young child's face

Yeorie

a woman with tendrils of smoke moving across her face

Grayshift

a spiral staircase from above

Mottleheaded

Cover image for the Mottleheaded word card on the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows