Monday, August 17, 2015

So I forget...

To write here more often, especially when I have things to write about or generally show people. I've been hoarding it on instagram and my facebook page. During my service in Senegal we were given a simple 'dumb' phone, that is instead of a 'smart' phone (who comes up with these ideas anyways) it was a simple nokia. Bless nokia's heart for that phone. Something that can survive a lot. I'm not going to go into details...lets say squat toilet and leave it at that. But with iphone's being more available now with resale of older models, they become a 'must' when traveling.

Due to having an iphone instead of just a camera, photos, videos, and the like simply get sent to instagram or facebook with a few clicks and addition of a caption. Instead of downloading photos to my laptop, editing, uploading to the blog or an album. Hence my blog has suffered.

I'm trying to right my wrong today but giving a better glimsp of my photo posts, my visuals captured and reasons to what I shoot.

Typically I will upload photos to my albums on facebook, simply as its relatively fast to upload,  many of my friends/people get to see them, along with I can share with a link.

I have more than a few photo albums on facebook
 So for example I have 3 albums for Grenada already. Grenada-May. Grenada-June, July, August, and Grenada-Carnival. Most of these pictures are literally taken with my iphone through out the day/week as needed. Typically no reason, sometimes to remember something, or to look something up. Mostly to capture an interesting view or thing.

I should back up a little and explain that I use Picasa to organize and edit photos. It also has an awesome 'collage' feature. Over all very easy to use when searching for an image as it scans (based on settings) your computer for images constantly. And drag and drop for sorting into folders. LOVE.

Screenshot of my Picasa
The other place I typically have photos is on Instagram.
Randomness of my instagram
These are much like facebook are random shots from where I'm at. I have been trying to start taking photos of themes. So far #nectarplants or #honeyplants, as of course this is part of my ongoing research here on the island but in a larger scope (see here if you missed it). But also try to find the local stories, names, and history of this wonderful place. I've had Grenadians abroad tell me how much they enjoy seeing my picture of the island and make them homesick.

Much of my over arching goal here on the island and the third goal of Peace Corps is: To help promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans. Or the way I interpret it, to help Americans get a better sense of places outside of America. Of course people reading this and seeing images I post are not only Americans, but capturing the sense of place, culture and people, giving it some context or description helps anyone better understand something.

I strive to understand the cultural context of the thing I'm taking a picture of, not just capturing it for the sake of a pretty picture. Typically I ask a few locals what the thing is, how it's used, if it's 'normal'/'known', and usually starts a larger conversation.

I have found my asking people of different ages and genders about anything will give me a much varied response. A younger generation might know the name and how it's used. But someone older might remember using it or having it around when they are young, the object having a daily use in the household, typically more than one use and sometimes multiple names. This of course generalized and sometimes is reversed as the younger generation travels more broadly and know of more broad use or understanding of the 'thing' in question.

Much like ethnography, 'the scientific description of the customs of individual peoples and cultures' I want to better understand the 'thing' through the people here, rather than the 'thing' standing alone out of context.

Of course the 'thing' could be anything. From language, specifically word usage, plants, events, clothing to history. Of course some of these things can not be photographed but having the understanding helps to further understand other things. Everything is interconnected. And then try to explain my own culture, or American culture in general on top of that.  

It's very fun capturing the nuances of a place. Lately I've been reminiscing of things I learned in Senegal that the locals would find 'local knowledge'. Being a playful, teasing culture with many languages,  typically 'outwitting' your partner in conversation was always a goal. Having enough understanding of the culture, language and people made you a stronger player in the game.

No comments:

Post a Comment