Field Notes and Photographs

Macaulay Honors College Hunter College | Spring 2011

Karen Gregory ITF

Course Site & Flickr

Add yourself to the course site: http://macaulay.cuny.edu/eportfolios peoplingofnewyork/

Then, create a Flickr account: www.flickr.com

Next, add yourself to the course Flickrgroup: http://www.flickr.com/groups/eastharlemjournal/

Writing Exercise

• Take two minutes to jot down what the first floor of this building looks like.

(On your way out, see what you’ve missed.)

What are field notes?

Develop a working definition.

• General observations• Details • Patterns• Anecdotes• Questions • Primarily a written method

What role can photos play?

• Memory• Truthful or deceptive? • Captions, notes, annotations, maps. • Using the photos, rather than relying on them.

Scale and Types of Images

• The type of images you require depends on the types of questions you are asking.

• What types of images can you collect? (Other sources, i.e. internet, archives, collections.)

• What is possible during a site visit?

Site Visit

• The environment: Buildings, green space, the layout of the area. What is there, what isn’t?

• Social interactions: People, people and place, people and animals.

• Details that tell: Products, trash, graffiti, posted signs, religious items.

Buildings

Green Street, BrooklynSunday, Feb 13, 2011 1:00 pmNote the ethnicity

Manhattan at FreemanSunday, Feb 13, 2011 1:10pmWho is selling/developing this?

Green Street, BrooklynMonday, Feb. 14, 2011 1:15pmNote the development and the architecture. The buildings themselves show change, new markets, gentrification, and changing demographics. This picture also shows the stalled “development .”

People

Manhattan Ave, Greenpoint, BrooklynMonday, Feb. 14, 2011 1:00pm

Manhattan Ave, BrooklynGreenpoint Reformed Chruch2/14/11 1:00pm

Manhattan @ IndiaBus stop2/14/11 1:00pm

Details

Languages spoken Trash products

Images lacking information

Process for Flickr

• Upload images, add description, use notes to annotate, add to map, link to group.

• Things your photo notes must have: Time of day, date, specific location (use map)

• Additionally, anything interesting that you noticed, questions that came up for you.

Video

• If you take video, please upload this to the course site (embed video on Field Video page)

• Also include time of day, date, location, notes,

etc.