I am interested in how collectives are described. A pride of lions, a crash of rhinos, a murder of crows.... This visualization untangles the multiple toxic environments at play some obvious, many hidden and unearthed through Oviya's critical insight. This visualization pushes us forward to think more critically, more imaginatively about how toxic environments inform and shape overlapping concerns in order to work, not for an imagined past, but to work for a complex, liveable future.
The blurred vertical areas on either side of the image lead me to wonder if the image cropped in order to focus attention on this woman. I defer to the ethnographer on this decision. I think this image is incredibly rich in ethnographic import.
I am uncertain whether this is a found photo or if it was created by the ethnographer. It is a documentary image and striking on many fronts. First, the image captures the large industrial complex in the background and reveals the strategic shrewdness of the protest organizers. It is a protest that occurs from boats on a river which underscores the protestor's point. The river is not land. The main subject in this image is a older woman. It is unclear if the men behind her, or in the neighboring boat are also participants in the protest by choice, or if they are simply hired to ferry the protesters and are captured in the photograph by chance.
There are so many factors at play in this image which the caption critically unpacks for readers. I am interested in all of them. How do environmentalists engage marginalized publics in their protests? How does industry drive governance in the classification of zoning and land-use?
What strikes me about the protest sign is the deployment of the word "Fake." I think this is what Oviya means in her discussion of legality. It also references a representational truth (through mapping) that is outside of politics.
This is a visualization of a protest about classification, land-use and toxic industry within a toxic political economy. Note the critical commentary for this artifact differs from the commentary embedded in the photo essay. I will refer to the more expansive caption from the essay in my comments.