Project in Process

For my class 'Advanced Topics: Urbanism' our first project is to notice something specific about our neighborhood and take 30 photos. We've had a month to do this, and I have been trying, but alas, I can not create unless under the wire. So it's due on Monday, and I am finally really starting to make progress on it. The process started with me taking pictures of spaces, mostly parks, with and without people. Then I read an article by Jane Jacobs and realized the answer to my question with that idea, and moved on. Next I became interested in patterns. So I began taking photos of patterns in my neighborhood. I was interested in the metaphor of patterns for the diversity in the neighborhood. While I was out finding patterns, mostly on buildings, I had an epiphany. If I was interested in talking about the diversity of people in my neighborhood, then maybe I should just photograph them.

I quickly came up with a criteria for how I would do this while photographing the first person. I introduced myself as a student in the neighborhood working on a project to take pictures of people in the neighborhood. I would try to ask every other person I encountered on the street, that wasn't walking too fast or in mid conversation with someone else. Without realizing it, I quickly had meet 10 people in my neighborhood. I tried to keep the encounters as brief contacts and only told my name if people asked, and didn't ask for theirs. Some people enjoyed talking, while others just said 'thank you'. I was aiming for anonymous contact, which as Jane Jacobson suggested, is a vital part of a community.

A few observations that I had with this experience:

• Older women were less likely to allow me to photograph them
• Older Asian people were less likely to allow me to photograph them
• Males were more likely (I wonder if that was because I was a young woman)
• Younger men and women were more likely to allow me to photograph.
• Half the people that allowed me to photograph them asked me questions, like were I went to school and what I was studying.
  
• One person asked me my name.

I really feel like a public practice grad student now.