Scientists are constantly “measuring” toxicity, and a lot of times it’s the only way to prove toxicity. Sometimes the measurements even need to exceed a certain amount to be taken seriously. This visual talks about the toxicity captured by the senses as the author puts it. Our bodies can also “measure” toxicity.
I like the representation of the blue nets turning grey to show how they measured toxics on the nets. I think that image is painted beautifully. Although we can’t really see toxicity in the water, air and body from the visual maybe it would help to describe how these people sense the toxics in the other things mentioned (water, air and body).
It is a very nice photo created by the ethnographer. The focus of the photo goes directly to the net and it works perfectly with the topic of the visual. I also like the color schemes of the background showing just a little bit of the lights of the city along with a greenish gray sky that seems to represent some form of “toxic” air.
The caption reminds us of ever present toxics in our daily lives. I would love to hear more about the deeper connection of this multiple toxicities the author hints at. Does Velu talk about these other sites of contamination? Do people differentiate between one form of toxicity and another? I love the description about the nets as a direct point of contact / point of entry to toxicity, could the author tell us more about these interconnections?
When toxics are felt they are more “real.” When they are felt they are lived. If people feel it, how can the government or corporations ignore it? Don’t politicians and CEOs have senses to feel toxics? I like that the image also brings us back to a well known argument of who are the people who are in closest contact to toxicity, and how their lives are exposed to chemicals in very different ways than those who produce that toxicity in the first place.
This is a striking image that pulls the viewer's attention to the center of the frame, eliciting in the viewer the same focused attention evident in the intent stares of the fishermen themselves. At first glance, the picture is enigmatic--it is not clear exactly what is happening or why. The text provided by the caption provides the crucial details, although the toxicity present in the scene remains almost incidental to it--effectively invisible to the viewer, blandly quotidian to those exposed to it.
