These preliminary images represent photographs I will make for the final submission. These 'placeholders' are panoramas I have made while participating in "Toxic Tours" around the Houston/Galveston region since 2010. Toxic Tours are offered by TEJAS (Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services), a group in the region dedicated to educating the public about environmental concerns, affecting environmental policy and regulations, and developing community actions to create greater awareness. In reviewing images from various "tours" I am inspired to develop images that visualize the relationship between the residents of the communities who live in the region and the indsutries located therein: what are the signs of resistance, acquiescence, and structural violence? How do the visible geographies, subjectivities and technologies reflect the ongoing issues between industry and citizenry? Through my photos I will visualize the many levels at which toxicity operates through its manifestations in the neighborhoods.
Hartman Park, Manchester, Houston, Texas. 2010. While visiting this neighborhood nestled within the stacks and storage tanks of patroleum plants, I witnessed these residents using the park for exercise. I'm intersted in the juxtaposition of the space reserved for community use and well being amidst environmental hazards and everday exposures caused by the industry presence. While companies try to purchase homes in the neighborhood and convert them for parking use, many residents do not want to sell, or cannot leave for financial reasons.
An industrial metal recycling facility is strategically located along one of Houston's many bayous (rivers) that flow to the Gulf. Once processed, trains and bardges carry the product to other markets. On the tour we visit a local city park that stretches along banks across from the facility. Established as recreation areas for residents living in the heavily industrial sections of the city, parks like this were to demonstrate environmental consciousness and promote resident wellbeing on behalf of the local government and industries. We learn such behavior is another form of "green washing".
On my initial “toxic tour” of Houston (2010) we visited the Manchester neighborhood, one of many along the Ship Channel, to understand the proximity of living spaces to those of manufacturing spaces, to recognize how the environment is impacted by human presence, and how the structures of our economy affect those who live in the vicinity.
This image was made from inside our vehicle as we crossed a bridge across the ship channel. Notice the windows’ reflection in the left portion of the image. This is not a composite panorama, but rather a full-frame image cropped to panorama proportions; I use this photo as a visual note to myself, a reminder of subjects to include and how to best frame them to convey my intent—the many contrasts between colors, materials, elements, geometries, and geographies, which ultimately manifest as toxicities.
Jerome Crowder. 25 November 2018, "Toxic Environments: Structural affects and Community Responses", Center for Ethnography, Platform for Experimental Collaborative Ethnography, last modified 30 November 2018, accessed 18 May 2024. http://www.centerforethnography.org/content/toxic-environments-structural-affects-and-community-responses