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?

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Jonathon Turnbull's picture
March 4, 2020

The author took this image, I assume. It is notable that it is taken from above the person working in the toxic river. This highlights a power dynamic of those who are able to stand above and observe (be unaffected in the same way) by the pollution (at least in terms of proximity in their working conditions). The shadow of the author is also an interesting but perhaps unrelated comment on the presence of the researcher in their work. I wonder if this could be tied into the caption perhaps?

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Miriam Waltz's picture
February 29, 2020

The image is a picture taken during ethnographic fieldwork by the author. The composition is really intereting - the figure scooping algae from the river divides the picture in two, with the polluted shore below and the algae above. One can see two people taking pictures through two shadows reflected in the river, and this seems to suggest the presence of the ethnographer in a way. The picture is taken from above, which anonimyses the figure and places the algal blooms as the centre of attention.

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