On Thursday I hopped on the 1R bus and I went to Fruitvale in the Oakland area by myself. For those who haven't been to Fruitvale it is a heavily Latino and Black populated community rich in food stands, food trucks, and restaurants around the area. On International and 33rd where the Fruitvale BART stop is located there is much going on. There is a local elementary school, Catholic church and a small market outside of the BART station where they were selling fruit and vegetables, a variety of nuts, and other items as well. I walked around through a couple of streets walked by the school, entered the church, and purchased the cup of fruit that I posted a picture of. I have been to Fruitvale in the past to try some of the delicious authentic Mexican food that I miss. I always felt connected to the people I saw walking in the streets because they reminded me of me when I was growing up. Seeing familiar brown faces always makes me feel at home.
As I walked through Fruitvale I wanted to bust out my phone and take numerous pictures. I wanted to take pictures of the kids playing tag in the courtyard, of the church, of the guy selling strawberries in his stand, of the moms walking their kids to school, of the woman who sold me the fruit cup, of the people enjoying their snacks sitting on benches, of the black woman with bright red hair, of the people waiting for the bus. I wanted to capture this community, but I stopped myself and I only took a picture of my fruit cup overlooking International boulevard.
Schonberg and Bourgois write "Photography by photojournalists or documentarians is a medium which combines visual aesthetics and realistic information to offer partial glimpses of very different, inaccessible worlds" they also mention that "...how photography takes on its meaning through the context in which images are presented, via the subjectivity of the viewer, and the ideological constrains of the larger society"
I think these ideas tie to visual documentation in terms of my practice experience as well as my experience in Fruitvale. To me, Fruitvale is a realistic world, that is not different, and is accessible. I felt that taking pictures would separate my cultural connection to this place. I would have become simply an outsider trying to capture the culture rather than maintain my connection with it. The picture of my fruit seemed like my only appropriate option. I feel like I will have the same dilemma with my practice experience as I will be working in the West Oakland community. These visual documentation readings bring a lot of ethical questions. I still need to understand my place in these communities, even if I am not directly part of them. It will be interesting to figure out what approaches I take to document my practice experience in a way that I feel comfortable with the images I am trying to capture but also that they capture realities of the work that I am doing.
I agree with your entire reasoning of the situation, but I suppose from a different perspective you could have still taken all those photos at Fruitvale. As long as their contexts were explicitly stated, those photos could still have a profound impact, as stated by Schonberg and Bourgois. Depicting pictures in this way can show off the community from your (the photographer's) perspective, and not have them subject to the public's interpretation. I understand your perspective that by taking pictures, you would be removing yourself from the culture and its accessibility, but it is this characteristic itself that could make your pictures more effective and powerful, since the perspective of your photos is of one from the same culture. Schonberg and Bourgois also mention this strategy.
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