Researching Culture and Media

Researching Culture and Media (RCM)

 

 

Paper #2:         Researching People / Space / Material Culture /

 

Influence of Media-Culture through Photography

 

I              Select one option to take photographs for 5-7 days

 

• Taking inspiration from Auggie Wren, the owner of a store in the film “Smoke” that we watched and discussed for Lesson 7, you are asked to take one photograph of a “space”/”location” for 5-7 days. The camera that you use could be digital, manual or cell phone, but be consistent about which camera you use. The days could be 5-7 days within a single week, or 5-7 days in total. You will need to record the date and time of each photograph digitally or manually, and include the 5-7 photographs with the dates and times that it was taken in the appendix of your paper.

 

Select ONE “location” and choose a SINGLE “camera frame and distance” (see below) to photograph for 5-7 days. Similar to the street corner chosen by Auggie Wren in the film “Smoke”, the “location” chosen should have PEOPLE in them for the majority of the 5-7 days, and within the frame, you should be able to see the actions, facial expressions, and body language of the people photographed. The selected location could be indoors or outdoors and could be:

 

INDOORS (your family’s living room, a community / game / worship / rehearsal room, etc.)

 

OUTDOORS (the street corner of your building, a sportsground, the entrance to your primary/secondary school, an outdoor place that you pass by daily, a place that is deep in your memory from childhood, etc.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

II             Part A of your paper:

 

Introduction and explanation of your research and your role as photographer / researcher

 

• Explain WHY you have selected this “location” to study.

 

• Discuss HOW you photographed the “location” for 5-7 days.

 

 

 

 

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• REFLECT on whether your relationship to this “location” and the people encountered has changed having photographed this / them for 5-7 days, such as:

 

in the way(s) that the people who are photographed consciously or subconsciously respond to you as photographer

 

in the way(s) that you think about the location and/or people that are photographed

 

III            Part B of your paper:

 

Consider specificities and particularities of 2-4 examples from your photographs, and analyze them by using and engaging in dialogue with 2-3 concepts / case studies / readings from the course

 

Notetaking to remember something about each day that you photograph would be helpful; as in addition to the photographs, there are aspects of life that could not be seen from the photographs, such as sensory perceptions about the weather, smells, sounds, what people are saying and to one another

 

Of the 2-3 concepts / case studies /readings chosen, 1 of the concepts / case studies / readings must come from Lessons 6-9 of the course

 

• From Lessons 1-5, the concepts/case studies/readings that you could use and ENGAGE IN DIALOGUE with include:

 

How “identities” might affect “lived experiences”

 

the possibility of “multiple identities” / “multiple subjectivities” / “multiple consciousness”

 

from our case studies, “identities” could come from others, and/or defined by the person himself/herself and include:

 

-how people may be identified through their “lived experiences” in a particular “location”, and/or being in a particular “location”

 

-how people may be identified through their relationships with one another

 

• From Lessons 6-9, the concepts / case studies / readings that you could use and ENGAGE IN DIALOGUE with include:

 

1. relationship between the “material” and “immaterial” in terms of the “locations” and/or for the people photographed

 

what “material culture” (objects / physical aspects of the environment) are important to a particular individual, or a group of people in the photographs?

in what ways do you think what is “material” (spatial culture / material objects) is connected to or distinct from what is “immaterial”, such as hopes, dreams, desires that an individual or a group of people have?

 

in what ways might the connections between the “material” and “immaterial” be mediated (influenced by media) such as, attitudes, expectations, actions, hopes and dreams about what makes:

 

 

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-a “good life”

 

-a “good neighborhood / location / community” -a “good family”, a “good son/daughter”, etc.

 

1. how are “public transcripts” and/or “hidden transcripts”, “tactics” and/or strategies” developed or practiced at this site / “location”? why is this “public transcript” and/or “hidden transcript”, “tactic” and/or “strategy” important to the people there?

 

1. which comes first: the ways that spatial environment and/or material objects influence the people there; or the people there influencing the physical environment and/or material cultures there?

 

1. what of the spatial environment and/or material objects reflect differential “power relationships” between the people there?

 

1. to what extent does spatial environment and/or material objects lead to “distracted relationships” and/or “mediated subjectivities” between the people there?

 

• For the 2-4 examples that you choose to discuss further, you should select either single photographs, or pairs of photographs, and see which concept / question / case study / quote is the most appropriate to discuss and analyze in terms of that single photograph or pair of photographs. In terms of a pair of photograph, it could be their similarities or differences that you draw attention to and analyze.

 

As you are asked to use 2-3 concepts / questions / case studies / quotes from the course and 1 of these must come from Lessons 6-9, So when using different concepts / questions / case studies / quotes, you could use the same single photograph or pair of photographs, or choose different photographs for your second and/or third discussion and analysis.

 

While you could use more than a single or a pair of photos for your discussion and analysis, but looking at a single photograph or looking at and comparing and/or contrasting a pair of photographs could allow focus on more finer details to talk about for your paper.

 

IV           Part C of paper:

 

Reference and appendix

 

• List references used

 

• Each photograph, with the date and time it is photographed, should be included in your appendix

 

 

 

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V             Language, text and images

 

• Your paper should be mainly in English

 

phrases or quotes or conversation in languages other than English is acceptable as part of research

 

please provide translation if language for these phrases or quotes or conversation is other than English, Cantonese or Putonghua

 

• Your photographs could also be placed in the body of your paper to illustrate your example, rather than just in the appendix

 

• Drawings could be used to illustrate what you observed but not part of your photographs

 

• Text should be 12″ font, with no more than 2,200 words (although there are no penalties regarding word limit)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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