Stewart says, “The souvenir speaks to a context of origin through a language of longing, for it is of the necessarily insatiable demands of nostalgia.  The souvenir generates a narrative which reaches only ‘behind,’ spiraling in a continually inward movement rather than outward toward the future.  

I understand this that the souvenir keeps us thinking about the past.  It keeps us reflecting inward, and remembering past experiences instead of focusing towards the future. It causes us to feel nostalgia and have longing.  In my current work, where I am highlighting the effects of man on animals, I have images of animals that have gone extinct because of man.  The images are monochromatic, and have an old world look to them as well as the date the animal went extinct.  Each image is like a souvenir of what once was.  For me, they cause me to feel nostalgic, and feel a longing for a time when nature was more abundant, and less affected by man.