Miriam Waltz Annotations

Miriam Waltz's picture
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What does this visualization (including caption) say about toxics?

Thursday, March 5, 2020 - 4:06am

This visualisation communicates something about different scales of toxicity: the concrete pollution that the petrochemical industry generates, but also the toxic political and economic dimensions of these global networks in a particular place.

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Can you suggest ways to enrich this image to extend its ethnographic import?

Thursday, March 5, 2020 - 4:04am

I don't see any way to enrich this image. I think any kind of editing or addition would take away from the scale it represents.

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What kind of image is this? Is it a found image or created by the ethnographer (or a combination)? What is notable about its composition | scale of attention | aesthetic?

Thursday, March 5, 2020 - 4:03am

This si a found image. I really like how the image was originally supplied by an industry actor themselves and how it has been repurposed multiple times to critique rather than sell, which it seemed intended to do.

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Can you suggest ways to elaborate the caption of this visualization to extend its ethnographic message?

Thursday, March 5, 2020 - 4:02am

I'm not sure how one would extend the ethnographic message of the caption. I think the strength of the caption, also in relation to the overall point of this photo essay, is that it contextualises what at first glance is an almost incomprehensible image, with the scale being beyond the human in a way. The caption does a really nice job of showing how actually for some people this part of their everyday work life, and how it is also part of economic strategies with consequences affecting people far beyond the company, in the form of tax breaks, job availability, etc.

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How does this visualization (including caption) advance ethnographic insight? What message | argument | sentiment | etc. does this visualization communicate or represent?

Thursday, March 5, 2020 - 3:45am

This visualisation communicates the many layers, unwieldy infrastructures and various technologies that petrochemical companies rely on to assmble their phyiscal structures in particular places. It points to the megaprojects spanning the globe that are behind the idea of a single 'company.'

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