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358 Eda Kalmre narratives presented in private circles (family albums etc.) also expressed a nostalgic yearning for secure life and success of an independent nation state. As mentioned before, Linnap (2007: 41) states that photos both reflect reality and construct it. Our understanding of reality is shaped by the ‘standardised menu of recording life events’, also affecting the way we see and hear this reality. My own views tie in with this. Specifically, as I was closely involved with post-war rumour and memory during my research, I noticed how powerful the rumourelicited world was. It was powerful to the extent that after the war it created a social setting that is still extant and influencing people's memories, feelings and values (Kalmre 2013: 131-134). Clearly, historical photos of Tartu had a significant role in creating this setting. Peeter Linnap has expressed the opinion that Estonians are still living in a fairly limited world of public images, especially with regard to their history. It seems that the public ‘pictorial menu is still ashamed of the past and the topics related to identity (Linnap 2006: 240). Could the reason be that some aspects of the past that have significantly shaped our identity have been suppressed in the “collective subconsciousness” as so traumatic that we lack the will/courage to tackle them even now? Or is this “the cause of our blindness the previous KGB and Glavlit era with their total bans on pictures?” (Ibid.: 241). Actually, it is possible to argue against this claim since my observations indicate that the topics related to the past, memory, and the truth of photos were actual in the private sphere during Soviet times, although they are rather related to personal photo collections than public ones. In the contemporary increasingly photographed and image-centred culture there is ever more reason to conduct research that lies at the crossroads of memory and remembering, and the visual and perceptive worlds. One reason for this is that the technical possibilities of the Internet allow a marked proportion of the population to participate in the processes. Pre- and post-war photos are increasingly accessible to interested parties. For example, many dedicated communities on Facebook are engaged in presenting historical photos (Tiit KuMa, Nostalgiline Tartu (‘Nostalgic Tartu), Vanad asjad (‘Old things’) etc.), with members posting historical photos and identifying the edifices depicted and swapping personal memories related to these locations and historical events. Probably the biggest special digital heritage of old photos is Ajapaik’, which is specialised to collecting historical photographs and their metadata. The photos that the photographer Eduard Selleke took of Tartu are, still, among the most popular ones in these groups. In addition, very popular and simple computer programs can be used to create photo narratives that unite the historical and current city of Tartu. ° http://ajapaik.ee, see also https://www.facebook.com/ajapaik?fref=ts (last accessed on: November 10, 2014).
