Louise Elstow Annotations

Louise Elstow's picture
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What does this visualization (including caption) say about toxics?

Wednesday, February 26, 2020 - 8:03am

The visualization seems to be saying that toxic places and things can be hidden from view but a consequence of multiple industrial processes.

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Can you suggest ways to enrich this image to extend its ethnographic import?

Wednesday, February 26, 2020 - 8:03am

I do not understand this question. I cannot provide an answer to this.

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What kind of image is this? Is it a found image or created by the ethnographer (or a combination)? What is notable about its composition | scale of attention | aesthetic?

Wednesday, February 26, 2020 - 8:02am

This image was created by the ethnographer during a fieldtrip.  The composition is strong I think, as the space opens up in front of the viewer - drawing your eye to the figures in the photo.  The scientist (although they could be anyone, in theory, we only know this or assume this because we are told of three people walking to the field site) stride ahead - one looking down and one looking ahead. Not waiting for you. The grey cloud that hangs over the silhouette of the person hand loading sand into the lorry is very portentous. 

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Can you suggest ways to elaborate the caption of this visualization to extend its ethnographic message?

Wednesday, February 26, 2020 - 8:02am
  • I enjoyed the introduction text for the essay as a whole.  I wonder if part of the essay introduction needed to be included here with the first photo to provide more context? 
  • What were you on your way to do in the mangroves? You call it a Mangrove Collection Trip - but what does that mean?  What were you collecting?   And - who is Dr Mar? What is he a doctor of?  What is he working on?  Why is he there?  What is he using the trip for?
  • You mention ‘the biannual local science conference in 2016’ - local to where?  Where was it hosted?  Also - why ‘the’ conference and not ‘a’ conference?
  • I particularly enjoyed the use of the word littoral in the introduction to the essay - because it is almost being a pun on the word ‘litter’ which you subsequently found.   It is literally littoral litter.
  • Also - I am stuck by the idea of liminality here in the photo of the beach and in the wider project on mangroves - the scene in the photo is not mangrove and not the sea, it is the beach. Indeed, the mangrove is not only on the edge - it is the edge - sometimes in the saline world, sometimes in the fresh-water world.    Is there anything in terms of boundary objects (Star and Griesmeyer) which could be helpful? 
  • Is there another word for verdant you could consider, as you use it twice in quick succession.  The same for bumpy.  And why did you mention the rainy season?  Has it contributed to the lush greenery or bumpiness?
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How does this visualization (including caption) advance ethnographic insight? What message | argument | sentiment | etc. does this visualization communicate or represent?

Wednesday, February 26, 2020 - 8:01am

This image and its caption demonstrate the long journey for the ethnographer to the field site, in this case quite literally.  Your journey started at a conference some time before (it is not clear when the photo was taken - this could be useful information in the caption perhaps) when you first met Dr. Mar.  But it also required there having to be a field trip to be invited on, being invited to attend the field trip, and the slightly more obvious physical journey including undertaking a multi-mode transport route to get there.  

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