This image is interesting in how it captures a moment--a moment in a larger film, a moment in the chaos of what seems to be a busy street. Quite evocative of the toxicological sciences, in which the sampling of toxic substances represents a very particular moment in a very particular place, this image manages to convey quite a lot through this slice. Like toxics, the image will move, shift, and take on other forms and meanings as time passes.
This image is interesting in how it captures a moment--a moment in a larger film, a moment in the chaos of what seems to be a busy street. Quite evocative of the toxicological sciences, in which the sampling of toxic substances represents a very particular moment in a very particular place, this image manages to convey quite a lot through this slice. Like toxics, the image will move, shift, and take on other forms and meanings as time passes.
Quite cleverly even in its form as a screenshot, the image manages to evoke a sense of movement and passing of time. Camila frozen in mid-sentence and mid-gesture, the blurring of the passing car, the icons on the screen indicating that this is a still from a film, the viewer is both drawn to the image as a static, bounded piece, while simultaneously urged to imagine the moving whole.
I'm interested in learning more about the author/artist/ethnographer's methods as a filmaker. How does one approach toxic capture through film? How do the subtitles work to both translate and interpret toxicity?
I'm interested in learning more about the author/artist/ethnographer's methods as a filmaker. How does one approach toxic capture through film? How do the subtitles work to both translate and interpret toxicity?
The first place that my eyes went was to the text of the screenshot, but I after viewing the accompanying text I began to look at Camila and the environment. If there were a way to take crop-out the words at the bottom of the screen, the viewer might focus on Camila's concern or the toxic looking environment; both of which I think do a better job of showcasing the toxic situation.
My eye is first drawn to Camila's hand and follows the direction that she is pointing. In the explanation, the filmmaker explains what Camila is pointing out and the image is effective in allowing us to feel a part of the moment, the tour of toxic materials as they enter Camila's barrio. Although a still image, it is easy to feel the movement of the moment that is captured.
The juxtaposition of the man on the bicycle and the truck conveys the sense that toxics are ubiquitous--both interrupting and incorporated into the quotidian flows of everyday life. Exposure often provokes waiting. From the ways industrial activity slows flows of movement--air, transport, etc.--to the ways in which bodily exposure is complicated by an element of latency.
This image is powerful for the onlooker because the dust and fumes from the massive truck automatically make you stop breathing in an effort to avoid inhaling what isn't actually around you - similar to the "ouch" when you see another person hit their head. This feeling is known because it is experienced by everyone at some point, such as walking along the sidewalk when a car expelling a smelly dark cloud passes by. The accompanying text proves that the dust and fumes are even worse than initially assumed; it gives the reader a sense of both sadness and despair.
Although the explanation centers around the inevitability of lead exposure for the man on the bicycle, I felt that the strength of this image was that the truck seemed to be coming towards me, the viewer. The direction of the oncoming truck seemed to pull me into the image, making me feel the unavoidability of toxicity. Very powerful.
