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"PhotoElectrifying Social Research Journalism" Developing Human Science Problematiques Through New Media W. Gordon West
Then God said, "Let there be light"--and light appeared.....Then he separated the light from the
darkness....Genesis 1. 3-4
Before the world was created, the Word already existed; he was with God and he was the same as God.
....The Word was in the world, and though God made the world through him, yet the world did not
recognize him. John, 1: 1
...late in the century of Joyce and Borges, of cubism and surrealism, of Wittgenstein's loss of faith in logical
positivism and of post-structuralism's gonzo metaphysics, the production of reproduction was again
redefined. From the moment of its sequicentennial in 1989 photography was dead--or, more precisely,
radically and permanently displaced--as was painting 150 years before. (Mitchell, 1992: 20)
We have all heard these arguments before. And what they all have in common as I see it, is style over
substance. To begin with, the idea that it's the pictures
that should be trusted, in order to defend a profession, is not understanding the nature of photography in the
first place. Why should anyone trust a picture, just
because it's a photograph, that is shear nonsense. I don't see journalists all heated up because we disbelieve
what people write about. I think on the
contrary, they deal with the credibility issue by doing something that I have to see happen in the photo-journalist community, and that is, to actually confirm
from a second source the information that is delivered. Actually the reverse
happens, the image is used as a way of confirming texts, when in reality the
picture can be as we now know, just as questionable a source as the text is.
Pedro Meyer (http://zonezero.com/magazine/articles/meyer/12.html)
The poet writes in a style where the subject and object become the same thing.
Northrop Frye, CBC Radio 1, "Ideas", Oct. 1, 1998
All good books have one thing in common: they are truer than if they had happened.
E. Hemmingway
The medium is the message. M. McLuhan (1964)
It was a slow day, and the sun was beating on the soldiers by the side of the road, ... the bomb in the baby carriage was wired to the radio... These are the days of miracle and wonder; this is a long distance call the way the camera follows us in slow mo... lasers in the jungle somewhere, staccato signals of distant information.... the way we look to a Distant Constellation, that's dying in the corners of the sky... Paul Simon, "The Boy in the Bubble", Graceland, Warner Bros. 1986. I CONCEPT:
This project will explore how new media technologies (most specifically the graphic and visual capacities of
the web) offer possibilities to transform and enhance both social research and photo-video
documentary/photo-video journalism in a creative interplay between technology, social research and
aesthetics--and centrally--interactively-- to transform .social research reportage and journalism!
The web has provided us with an astoundingly unprecedented technologically convergent capacity to
transmit and receive not only text, but also images, almost instantaneously, interactively, yet also
ephemerally. But such a transformation from a word-based society to an interactively imaged one suggests
not only a major transformation of human social organization, but also concomitantly its understanding
through any human "social research".
This is not, then, simply an issue of how the technical capacities of internet communications now allow
relatively easy transmission of visual images; it also entails a subtle but profound shift of the "problematique"
(the "topic" or "object" of research) of the human sciences from a previous over-reliance upon verbal/print
interaction and reportage (encouraged and technically shaped by the Guttenberg revolution in ease of print
communication--relying upon the isomorphism between human interaction in written documents and
speech, and print mediated reportage thereof), to a new world of multimedia (incorporating not only words
and print, but also sound, and visual images) which is transforming social research--and indeed our very
understanding of what constitutes knowledge about ourselves. The media are perhaps more than ever again
becoming our messages.
II SYNOPSIS: I will continue researching electronic new media social science journalism, most specifically through an e-mail survey of such journals/editors regarding the transformation of not only reportage but also social organization replicated by such reportage. (See Appendix) This survey will provide me with some interactive response to the central issues I wish to address: How to transform social science journalism into a "photoelectrified medium" able to engage and report a new form of human social organization mediated by information technology and communications.
Working with a few specific journals on an a loose internship basis, I will develop a "model" (or maquette) for such an electrified academic journalism. I will produce a model journal issue/layout, with a visually based home page/masthead, followed by the incorporation of materials presented earlier regarding the possibilities and problems of such an "ethnodigitography." More specifically, this project will produce: 1. An exemplary "mast-head"/homepage for photoelectrified social research journalism
In general terms, I seek to produce a "model" (with possible variants suggested) of how on-line social science journalism can move itself toward better depicting the emerging electronic social reality which it seeks to depict, by incorporating into its very structure not only the substances but also the forms of our lived human experiences.
III Research:
1. Introduction
To this point, in spite of the offerings of visual technologies over the last century, almost all social scientific
research (including communications studies) has been transmitted in strictly verbal/text formats, whether as
conference presentations, research papers, journal articles, or books.
While "reading" a conference paper continues to offer subsidized academic travel and "hob-nobbing" with
colleagues (regarding not only "meat-marketing" re job openings, but also more serious informal exchanges
regarding research developments), these practices have faded somewhat since the 60's development of
photocopying has meant drafts of academic papers not longer exist simply in one original and 2 carbons;
additional copies can be mailed very cheaply to anyone interested but unable to attend the
conference/reading. While major book presentations remain the preferred demonstration of one's academic
research work, publication of papers in peer-reviewed journal remain the "bread and butter" demonstration
of social science academic competence; indeed an article in the top journal often equals a book publication in
reviews of academic merit (e.g., at the University of Western Ontario, which like many American universities
has a numbered point-system regarding publications as a base for merit pay and advancement!) One builds
one's academic curriculum vitae through conference papers read, transformed into articles published in
journals, then further transformed into books (whether mass-selling texts in popular course areas, or more
prestigious "theoretical" works.) The type of verbal format of the presentation of academic social research
knowledge (and the advancement of academic careers) has thus been highly institutionalized through print
media.
As in other academic disciplinary areas (natural or pure sciences, humanities, literature, law, medicine, etc.),
"knowledge" in the "human" or social sciences has thus been almost exclusively print based. This is not
surprising given the intellectual roots of the social science disciplines between the more traditional major
arts/academic disciplines (history, philosophy, mathematics, literature, theology, etc.) and the emerging
natural sciences of the 19th century (mathematics, astronomy, physics, chemistry, botany, zoology, etc.).
Trying to balance the subject matter of the traditional humanities with the scientific claims of natural
sciences, building upon claims through its adoption of "natural science methods", social research quite
naturally has assumed the verbal/print traditions of its forbears. The experimental, social survey,
ethnographic and participant observation traditions in social research have been equally founded upon a
claim simply to be objectively reporting (in words or numbers) what (especially documentary) photography
contemporaneously also claimed to re-produce and document in images (Atkinson, 1990.)
Furthermore, an undeniably quite wonderfully attractive epistemological isomorphism has offered itself to
social research since its founding century: what better way to describe human interaction (arguably so
centrally dependent upon speech and print), than through verbal reportage itself? Using words to describe
verbally based human society retains an undeniable attractiveness as "objective"!
But contemporaneously, the same scientistic claims to documentary accuracy claimed by photography have
hauntingly allured social science researchers, whether in anthropology's attraction to strange and esoteric
cultures, or sociology's penchant for revealing the often sordid undersides of our own societies. Challenging
the easy assumption of verbal veracity (offering welcoming cachees of academic acceptance!), what more
naturally attractive technique for social researchers (especially ethnographers), has been that tantalizingly
offered by photography (and more recently film and video) as a claim to objectivity? Photoelectric imaging
has seductively offered being able to "write with light", beyond the human hand (or word, or sleight of
hand?), the social reality one sought to depict (Collier, 1966)? Whereas the more traditional academic
anthropologist or sociologist might try to write objectively about her/his subject, the more "scientific"
ethnographer might (following photography's claim) more dispassionately and objectively simply record
photographically the human activities under study! More recently, beyond photography and film, video and
electronic news gathering has offered an even more technologically sophisticated and accessible means of
depicting in "real time" the daily passage of human events.
But more recent criticism of such "positivist-empiricist" epistemology in both social science and
photographic arts have effectively discounted earlier, somewhat naive claims to "dispassionate objective
reportage". The choice of subject/conceptualization, sampling, framing, presentations, etc. clearly remain
fundamentally under the control of the researcher/artist and editors. Both the particular research study or
the particular photo/film project strive to display "universal" significances beyond the "particulars" of their
immediate subjects. Such issues are central in more general contemporary discussions concerning a post-structuralist epistemology and a post-modernist society and culture (see, e.g., Benjamin,
http://pixels.filmtv.ucla.edu/community/julian_scaff/benjamin/benjamin.html, and Davis
http://www.awa.com/artnetweb/views/davis ) Such notions of social research as revealing of more general
and widespread social forces echoes classical portraiture's attempts to portray an underlying "soul/essence"
beyond mere appearance. (see Footnote 1) Again, such notions echo the claim of film to not simply and
uncritically portray realities, but to "dig beneath" the surface, to reveal underlying truths stranger than
fictions.
Yet we remain in some perhaps mysterious ways (both in aesthetic and scientific traditions) wedded to some
belief(s) in "truth", "veracity", etc.,--perhaps because without some (at least consensually constructed) set of
grounded beliefs, we could no longer act (collectively!)
Coincidentally with the growth of (ignored) new media possibilities, increasingly narrow academic
specializations, government support cutbacks, and increasing costs of print production raise economic
feasibility questions for continuation of print journalism within academia. Only in the past couple of years
have the possibilities offered by new media (especially the internet and the web) begun to be considered
seriously (see especially the Canadian Journal of Communications, 22: ¾, 1997).
These ideas and concerns will be elaborated in the sections below focussing on scholarly, creative and
production research (although the three areas overlap, and some references will be mentioned throughout.)
a. Scholarly Research:
Traditional Social Science Journal Communication:
In spite of the attraction of photographic imaging over the past century, social science has nonetheless
remained wedded to print reports, journals and book formats as the assumed media for communication
among researchers and to various "publics" (government sponsors, funding agencies, students, and the
general public.)
More recently, social research traditions of case studies, life histories, and ethnographies have addressed
similar concerns (e.g., Atkinson, 1990). Some very few of these traditions have begun to be presented in
multimedia formats, offering a transformed style of social scientific journal for transmission of research
knowledge. The interdisciplinary humanistic social research traditions and practices identified variously as
"ethnography", "visual anthropology", "cultural studies", "participatory research", "action research", etc.,
(see, e.g., http://www.bham.ac.uk/CulturalStudies/; http://www.engl.uic.edu/~csc/chronicles/CSChron.htm)
have long relied on verbal "thick description" emulating realist fiction and essays, while striving to
incorporate photographic (and, more lately, filmed or videographic) imagery. They are thus the social
science tradition most amenable to engagement with the visual and graphic opportunities offered by new
media.
Yet almost none of the electronic on-line journals
(e.g:http://www.clas.ufl.edu/users/gthursby/socsci/ejournal.htm) have moved beyond print to incorporate the
technological possibilities of the web (e.g., The Electronic Journal of Sociology
[http://www.sociology.org/]; Q-Page [http://www.ualberta.ca/~jrnorris/qual.html], etc.) A few sites do
make some movement in this direction (e.g., The University of Kent [http://lucy.ukc.ac.uk/index.html]), and
some cross-disciplinary electronic journals now seek visual input (e.g., some Dutch ones
[http://www.euro.centre.org/causa/ec/ec_6.htm; http://www.pscw.uva.nl/sociosite/index.html].)
Ironically, even the best scholarly discussions of the potentials and pitfalls of electronic academic journalism
remain thoroughly print bound! (see Boyd Barret, 1997; Beattie and McCallum, 1997/http://info.gc.ca/ic-data/ic-eng.html; Borwein and South, 1997; Field, 1997; Homes, 1997; Jensen, 1997; Manhoff, 1997.)
Photography
Photography has long been interested in these issues. Various "movements", such as "art photography",
"pictorial photography", "straight photography", "documentary photography", and "photojournalism" have
all wrestled with along the "objectivity-subjectivity", "art versus science", etc axes.. These range through
Cameron's wispy romantic nobles, through Riis' urban poor, Steiglitz' "Paula" or "Georgia O'Keefe",
Steichen's "Rodin", Brassai's "Bijou", Cartier-Bresson's "Children Playing in the Ruins", Alfred Steiglitz's
"Steerage" , Weegee's "The Critic", Lange's "Immigrant Mother", Evans' "Allie Mae Burroughs",
through to Diane Arbus' "Identical Twins" or Robert Frank's The Americans. (This is not at all to deny
the remarkable distinctiveness of these various photographers or the stylistic photographic movements they
exemplify (as all generalizations ignore or downplay distinctive contributions), but simply to assert a
continuing dominant these within the art form.)
The "style" or "genre" of photography closest to social sciences, of course, is that of "documentary
photography, which aspires to depict the world as objectively as possible. Usually, the topics/contents have
been "social isssue" oriented, classically displayed by Riis, Hine, Lange, Evans, etc. The tradition continues
in contemporary work, such as that of Nicholas Nixon. In his engagingly haunting depictions, whether
neighbourhood street documentary, visions of the old or AIDS victims, or family the undeniable claim is that
of photographic veracity! Friedlander's and Clark's documentaries similarly repeatedly reflect back to us
who we are. (West, 1997)
Moving Pictures: Film and Video Motion Pictures have continued this central tradition. While the central popular, Hollywood tradition has
not been "documentary" film, but rather "narrative" story-telling of a "fictional" nature, it has nonetheless
cleverly relied upon the verisimilitude of the filmic image to claim a veracity for these Hollywood dreams: a
quite remarkably successful oxymoronic juxtaposition of claims! While "It's just a movie!" , the
photographic realism entrances us into believing that it is "true"! (Or, perhaps, more "true" in some
psychological sense, than "reality.")
Documentary film itself, of course, makes a stronger more explicit claim to accurately representing reality.
Interestingly, it has perhaps been somewhat less focussed on portraiture of Americanized individuality, and
more on collectivities and historical conditions or events. Nonetheless, the people depicted in the NFB's
"Challenge for Change" series, for instance, continue to demonstrate the intrinsic power of portraiture (e.g.,
"To Accept the Things I Cannot Change.") But even documentary film's cachee of objectivity has been
seriously challenged (e.g., " " [West African anthropological study: Don Snyder: help me here with
the reference!])
Nonetheless, perhaps fomented by "generation X's" weaning on television action cartoons, it can be argued
that the box-office successes of the last decade have relied increasingly upon "special effects", which by
definition are composed of high-tech media manipulation of images explicitly NOT "real" (or at least easily
able to be captured from "natural" phenomena), but rather needing to be digitally manufactured.
a. Creative Research:
New Media
New Media art has moved rapidly in contradictory ways: one the one hand, there has been an undeniable
explosion of materials on the internet and Web; on the other hand, the art community has been much more
reluctant and suspicious of joining the web than, for instance, business or entertainment (see, e.g.,
www.usc.edu/dept/annenberg/artfinal.html) Among many others (e.g., www.arts-online.com/;
www.artswire.org/; http://artresources.com/; http://cyberscol.qc.ca/Arts/AA/;
www.uiah.fi/internetguide/navigator.html), the ad319 group (www.art.uiuc.edu/ad319/paper1.html) makes a
strong argument for more direct engagement with these new technologies.
New English Literature:
I would argue that the most interesting new literature (even traditionally mediated, as in books!) has
incorporated a "post-modernist" sense of reconstructed memory and time which echoes central aspects of
the new media. In The Orange Fish, Carol Shields presents a series of semi-related short stories, almost all
of which have a haunting sense of remembered reconstructions; in "Chemistry" former night schoolmates
recall their passing infatuations; in "Hazel" a poor woman relives her loves while selling low-end products; in
"Good Manners", an aging instructor mouths hollow platitudes from her past; in "Bread, Milk, Ice, and
Beer" memories of a disintegration marriage are presented. In a classic post-modernist sensibility, all these
concern problems of human communication through words--while playing on the words! Alice Munro
performs similar feats with her loosely connected collection in Who Do You Think You Are?, and Tom
King's edited collection of native literature, All My Relations, plays with similar themes of time and irony.
More specifically on the WEB, a number of English Departments have begun exploring and categorizing
narratives (e.g., http://mh.cla.umn.edu/3960ss96.html) the links typically include a scattered variety, ranging
from pieces on proper web-referencing to Hotwired's interview with Jenny Holzer, multimedia artist
extrordinaire (www.hotwired.com/talk/club/special/transcripts/95-05-23.holzer.html)
Digital Storytelling
In a relatively traditional way, a local hero, Stuart McLean, has revived story-telling on CBC radio with his
Vinyl Café performances; these have now been released on CD-ROM and tape, as well as through a website
(http://radioworks.cbc.ca/programs/vinyl/). Though McLean's approach is traditional, he displays a
classically wonderful sense of timing.
V-tape's little reference book, The New Media Guide, lists a number of interesting story-telling sites. Among the better ones are Der Paranoide Engel (www.geocities.com/Paris/LeftBank/2322/angel.htm), a loosely woven set of options including poetry, mail fragments, etc. with some visual images; Eric Dymond's "Radio/Motion" dealing with memories inspired by Toronto's beaches boardwalk ((http://web.idirect.com/~artseen/radio/htm); Dymond's collaborative work with Chiyoko Szlavnics, "The Doorway", a mystery (http://web.idirect.com/~artseen/door.htm); Julie Myers "Peepingtom" mystery snooping (www.obsolete.com/peepingtom); Jon Thomson and Alison Craighead's "Altitude" which plays upon the disorientation of (web) space (http://www.ucl.ac.uk/slade/slide/index.htm), Kika Thorne's web version of "GirlGang" obsesses with sex, drugs, and the 3 R's (www.interlog.com/~kika). Another interesting storytelling site is that of http://www.storyweb.com/cgi-bin/bestguml/homepage, where various genres are offered, letting the user pick and choose. Of course, the stories do not just unfold as in a book! All of these sites are centrally concerned with the interplay of text and images, and the ways in which
hyperlinking allow stories to be reconstructed in potentially infinite sequences.
Adrienne Wortzel is one inspirational new media storyteller. One of her sites is a delightful version of future
projected memories told by her alter-personna (http://artnetweb.com/wortzel), in which she assumes a demi-goddess role, dissecting the acheological remnants of our presnt existence from an imagined cybernetic
future. Under the subpage "Poor Traits of the Artist" she spoofs her personna. Her "Electronic Chronicles"
(http://artnetweb.com/projects/ahneed.first.html) is an exemplary classic. "Once upon a time, stories had a
beginning, a middle, and an end"! But not any longer, as
http://www.thesite.com/0397w2/play/play418_030397.html demonstrates! Perhaps one of the more
interesting directions for further analysis is that displayed by Rosenthal: how do our unstated
"presumptions" tell more profound stories than the ones we ostensibly offer
(http://bliss.berkelely.edu/impact/speakers.rosenthall/rosenthal-talk.html)?
New Photography
More recently, some documentary photographic web-sites (Pedro Meyer's Zonezero
[http://www.zonezero.com] and F-8 [http://www.f8.com/]) have moved rapidly to present material which is
both aesthetically of high quality with very sophisticated social analyses.
Meyer's collection of quite fantastic photographers and photographs is a pure gem on the Web. (see, eg,
http://www.zonezero.com/magazine/essays/reading.html), and they do become stories in the best sense that
any well-edited series of still photos tell a story beyond that conveyed by single shots. Admittedly, they
nonetheless have a static quality, in which the pristine quality of each individual image defies recombination,
let alone any user transformation (the very copyright notice says it: you can look, even download--but you
better not touch[-up], or our lawyers will get you!) Perhaps not entirely seriously interactive! Or at least
not in a sense which goes beyond traditional author-reader relationships.
A direction Meyer clearly points in and supports is that taken by the digital photojournalists at Focal Point
f/8; last year they sent two photographers across the former Soviet Union with digital cameras, who reported
back daily, the images were then Photoshopped and Web-posted, and feedback successfully encouraged to
the extent that viewers gave the duo leads and suggestions as to relatives, friends, and former neighbours to
visit! On line photojournalism, with an interactive story, at http://www.f8.com/ !This kind of work is
gaining a legitimacy in mainline photographic discussions (see S. H. Edwards, 1998.) But the vast majority
of aesthetically sophisticated web-sites remain naïve to the social and political implications of their
presentations, or their relation to "social documentary".
New Digital Motion on the Web
Additionally, some very creative works are being developed by people working at the Banff Centre (www-nmr.banffcentre.ab.ca/Artists/) which incorporate motion For instance, Diana Fenster
(http://zonezero.com/exposiciones/fotografos/fenster/plen.html) has an interesting display in one of Meyer's
galleries. She uses old family photos to construct montages which tell a story, having come into
photography AFTER being a computerized graphic designer. Meyre's gallery supports a whole series of
such stories, tobe found at www.zonezero.com/magazine/essays/reading.html. A wonderfully "simple" but
oh so elegant one is Diego Goldberg's arrangement of family photos over the years, indicating when the
children arrived, and how they have grown, like a traditional family photo album
(http://www.zonezero.com/magazine/essays/diegotime/time.html)
Dana Atchley has perhaps done as much as anyone in exploring how new media might be combined to not
only tell digital stories, but to also put them together in a family album
(www.nando.net/newsroom/ntn/info/012397/info18_12215.html) He and Pedro Meyer share common
bonds, reinforced by their personal contact
(http://www.zonezero.com/magazine/essays/meyer/digitalstory2.html) Atchley has been reviewed numerous
times; needless to say, the majority are very positive, but nonetheless give good descriptons of his
performances (e.g., www.typo.com/cool/cool.html; www.media.euro.apple.com/milia/Dana_Hatchley.html)
Atchley has now begun to run an annual festival (www.dstory.com/96schedule.html;
http://www.nextexit.com/html_gif/fails.html) Some of the work of Atchley and his contemporaries is
available at www.thesite.com/0397w2/play/play418_030397.html.
One of the best general sites is www.storyweb.com/cgi-bin/bestguml/homepage, which offers a tantalizing
yet down-home, bedtime approach: one gets to select in the "usual" categories (e.,g., scifi, fiction, kids, etc)
and carries on from there.
Digital Social Research
Almost all social science journal sites on the web to this point have simply followed traditional research
reportage with its emphasis on verbal media, with a minimal of exploration of the technical, aesthetic, and
indeed epistemological potential of the web itself. For instance, a visually rather mundane site with excellent
leads is maintained from Edmonton (http://www.ualberta.ca/~jrnorris/qual.html); there are similar sites at
major universities now throughout the world (e.g., in Norway,
http://www.ub.uio.no:80//usv/etmu/index.htm#linker)
A more interesting direction is that posed by the ways in which the Web is profoundly but subtly changing
our notions of knowledge, for instance by hyperlinking and interactivity (see, e.g.,
http://www.ritslab.ubc.ca/richmond/PoMo.html) Steve Mizrach, in his "Advancing the Purposes of
Anthropology through Electronic Technology" (http://www.clas.ufl/edu/users/seeker1/scholarly/electric-anthro.html) offers a more detailed discussion. As well as using the web as a resource to assist doing
traditional ethnographies, some have pointed out that the web (eg., one's e-mail) can be a topical subject for
investigation (http://dewey.lc.missouri.edu/rhetnet/cwhistory4/0009.html)
It is at this juncture that artificial disciplinary boundaries dissolve: Meyer's Zonezero editorial in November
1997 (quoted at the beginning of this proposal) is as elegant a statement and demonstration of central issues
of the effects of digital technology upon first and third world relations as any sociologist or anthropologist
has written (http://www.zonezero.com/editorial/editorial.html)
Electronic Social Science Journalism
The interdisciplinary humanistic social research traditions and practices identified variously as
"ethnography", "visual anthropology", "cultural studies", "participatory research", "action research", etc.,
(see, e.g., http://www.bham.ac.uk/CulturalStudies/; http://www.engl.uic.edu/~csc/chronicles/CSChron.htm)
have long relied on verbal "thick description" emulating realist fiction and essays, while striving to
incorporate photographic (and, more lately, filmed or videographic) imagery. They are thus the social
science tradition most amenable to engagement with the visual and graphic opportunities offered by new
media.
Yet almost none of the electronic on-line journals (see
http://www.clas.ufl.edu/users/gthursby/socsci/ejournal.htm) have moved beyond print to incorporate the
technological possibilities of the web (e.g., The Electronic Journal of Sociology
[http://www.sociology.org/]; Q-Page [http://www.ualberta.ca/~jrnorris/qual.html], etc.) A few sites do
make some movement in this direction (e.g., The University of Kent [http://lucy.ukc.ac.uk/index.html]), and
some cross-disciplinary electronic journals now seek visual input (e.g., some Dutch ones
[http://www.euro.centre.org/causa/ec/ec_6.htm; http://www.pscw.uva.nl/sociosite/index.html].)
Among the best "exemplars" of the directions I am suggesting are those offered from three coinciding
directions: From a "CD-ROM Book" by new media artistLynn Leeson (1996), from a classic documentary
photographer now with an on-line journal, and from the populist National Geographic Web-site. Leeson's
CD-ROM book combines a printed book-text of art criticism essays, with a CD-ROM incorporating strong
graphics and navigation, mapping and video, sound, and interviews referring to many of the printed book's
authors. For me, the "building blocks" are there, but the integration remains "awkward", a collage assembly;
but most importantly, the CD-ROM new media format "freezes" the presentation without the possible
inclusion of ephemerality which the WWWeb offers. Coincidentally, as mentioned above, some
documentary photographic sites (Pedro Meyer's Zonezero [http://www.zonezero.com] and F-8
[http://www.f8.com/]) have moved rapidly to present material which is both aesthetically of high quality with
very sophisticated social analyses. But the vast majority of aesthetically sophisiticated web-sites remain
naïve to the social and political implications of their presentations, or their relation to "social documentary",
and Meyer remains fundamentally "a documentary photographer on the WEB", not someone concerned
with purveying social research itself. Perhaps the best exemplar is the crassly economically but nonetheless
aesthetically remarkable effort of National Geographic
(http://www.nationalgeographic.com/features/97/nyunderground; reviewed and analyzed in Weinman,
1998.) National Geographic does have an original mandate derived from a social science discipline; while
not denying its phenomenal achievements in photography, and that its populist and economic success have
provided it with unparalleled resources, it does offer a provocative model.
Contrarily, many aspects of new media aesthetics (qualities such as interactivity, ephemerality, narrativity,
visual emphases, etc.) threaten some of the basic epistemological assumptions of social science. The very
ephemerality undermines claims to documented veracity(see the group project by Bomberry, Konart,
MacInnis, Pasta, Watts, and West, 1998, as an example of the facility of on-line deception; also "2 Learn
Teaches Teachers to Use the Web", The Computer Paper, Sept. 1998, p. 50-52.) The very flexibility of the
new media demand a serious reexamination of the central notions of even the possibility of definitive
depictions of ourselves, demanding a reconsideration of older assumptions (for instance, concerning the
possibility of "objectivity", "accurate likeness", etc.)
c) Production Research
In many senses, production research actually incorporates the scholarly and creative research outlined above. These reviews have identified a major "gap" in on-line social research journalism (the lack of incorporation of media other than print), which is quite surprising given the lively discussions around the development of "post-modern" social organization focussed on the "information society" and photo-electronic communications, etc. Nonetheless, many e-journals indicate their openness and desire to move in this direction. I have identified a considerable interest in this project, at least in "theory".
The electronic survey of on-line journals will help identify obstacles to such a transformation, but both
"academic inertia" or "print traditions", a lack of academics' understanding of "photoelectric
communication" (both culturally and technically), and costs of such development immediately strike one
as salient. In regard to the first two of these problems, time is a necessity for any transformation, but the
openness is encouraging. Furthermore, utilizing the strengths of some existing academic traditions (e.g.,
aerial photography in geography, film research in cultural studies, visual anthropology, etc.) allows
building upon existing traditions. The last couple of decades increasing co-operation between academics
and other teachers with technically skilled development crews from not only traditional publishers but
also from newer multimedia producers offers an existing production model for educational materials
(See, e.g., the examples in Lopuck, 1996; http://fcit.coedu.usf.edu; http://www.schoolnet.ca/info/) It
makes considerable sense, then to pursue the organization of this project using such experiences.
Regarding "photoelectrified e-journals" as one medium among a number, retaining user options (e.g,
image and non-image versions), keeping web-sites as simple as possible to allow reception by aging,
"underpowered" computers, etc., thus makes sense.
A major realistic concern is costing. The attached real world budget is not unrealistic, but it is the kind of
budget which has restricted multimedia development of educational materials to mass marketing publishers
aiming their materials at elementary and secondary students, or those in large introductory courses for
undergraduates, in wealthy markets in countries with large populations (need I add, especially The United
States!) Again, there are some academic traditions which may be drawn upon. Much academic research
work has traditionally been heavily subsidized through "apprenticeship" types of programs using students
efforts at "less-than-market" costs in return for unique learning experiences and career advancements (with
some issues of "exploitation" needing to be addressed!) Additionally, faculty research has traditionally been
funded both the granting system, and institutional subsidization; although both of these have been reduced
over the last couple of decades of cut-backs, they still remain substantial. Both of these have traditionally
"downloaded" the actual costs of the production of academic knowledge. More specifically to its
dissemination, foundations and government granting agencies (e.g., SSHRCC) have subsidized publications;
specific universities and departments have traditionally subsidized journal publication through "reduced time
allotment" to editors, in return for the intellectual stimulation, "inside track" to publication access, and
prestige of housing journals. In an unusual way, then, the drastic reduction from my estimated "real world"
budget to the "actual" one made possible through my studying at Ryerson has a remarkable isomorphism
with the predominant mode of subsidizing "pre-photoelectrified" academic journalism!
Obviously, there have been and will be costs for the actual production and replication of images (and
sounds), but the major costing in the attached minor proposal: from my own photos, paintings and
drawings, to any copyrighted material. Add on top of that any costs of video or film production, with a
minimum cost of one's own cheap videocam for "concept development" (for me, that has mainly meant just
getting to learn the possibilities of the technology from a very basic level.) Then the costs of darkroom
production, from photos (both black and white and colour), film production and development, and especially
video editing suites!
Offsetting what must appear as high "real world" production costs in traditional academic journalism are the
multifold and increasing cost reduction aspects of the Web! The exponential increase in power of the
desktop, combined with the exponential decrease in costs of hard- and soft-ware, are astounding, even on a
year by year comparison. While hardcopy versions will continue to be needed for the foreseeable future, the
distribution of materials electronically to most of the readership could potentially eliminate the largest single
items for traditional journals (paper, printing, and mailing). How to collect traditional subscription fees
remains an issue of marketing.
In contrast to other "newer media" production, this project itself(and the photo-electrifying of e-journals it
seeks to encourage) does not entail the huge budget costs (e.g., in film and video, for talented actors,
lighting, studios or on-location, large numbers of personnel, etc.) The actual costs of communication by e-mail for the electronic survey, and development of the web-site for the model journal issue will be quite
minimal, given my time as a student, and access to Ryerson facilities and my own computer.
As with other presentations on the Web, major unresolved issues remain regarding intellectual property and
copyright for generally photo-electrifying e-journals (see, e.g., Ryerson ...Academic Policy: Ownership of
Student Work, 1989; Canadian Intellectual Property Office, 1994.) Specifically, in this project, most of the
images used will be my own or in the public domain; I will seek to obtain gratis permission for any others
needed, but may need to make small purchase fees for a few essential ones.
IV TREATMENT:
Centrally, I want to display a sense of transformation from print to visual, not only in content but also form.
I also need to translate "painterly", photographic work, and video into digital media on a model web-site.
Substantively, the project will consist of various sections: 1. An exemplary "mast-head"/homepage for photoelectrified social research journalism 2 A visually oriented "lead editorial" for such photoelectrified social research journalism, incorporating the results of the aforementioned survey, including the difficulties in such a transformation. 3. An invitation or "call for submissions" to an exemplary e-zine issue-- 4. A couple of "illustrative" ethnodigitographies, redeveloping materials from earlier essays and classes, one on a single parent native woman here in Toronto, the other on a south Pacific island (to contrast both "local/sociological" and "exotic/anthropological" possibilities.) 5. Reporting of an electronic survey of some 100 social research e-journals.
The tone of the materials on the web-site should be relatively straightforward in terms of navigation and
simple to download. On the other hand, the particular images need to suggest multiple layers, overlapping
realities, and contextualization (in part through text.) I will draw upon various historical art movements
which incorporated texts and images (e.g, Celtic illustrated manuscripts, didactic medieval religious art,
Daumier's political cartooning, the incorporation of text into cubist works by Braque and Picasso, the
Surrealists integration of titles with images, and more recent "conceptually oriented" art, such as that by
Robert Indiana [e.g, "LOVE"], Barbara Kruger, and General Idea.) "Advertising graphics" will also be a
major source of "style".
VISUALS AND TIME:
Stylistically: the notion is to converge/juxtapose as many images as possible in a sensible way (through
graphics, text, image, and sound overlaps) to "invoke" in the viewer as many elements as possible, yet retain
some social science coherence. Structurally, overlap, layers, fades, etc are crucial. Visually: colours should
be appropriate to the particular subject and topical matter: eg, soft and warm re intimate moments, more
harsh and violent re moments of despair, isolation and anger. There is a need to choose a motif, which
would nonetheless require social science "validity": the web site at the US Farm Administration and War
Information Office offers a good model.
AUDIO AND TIME:
If possible, some audio material should be incorporated, if only illustratively. Regarding scripting: nothing is
set, other than the general notion that for this project, the appropriate audio overs will "follow" the texts and
visuals. Sound design then must be in keeping with the basic visuals, with some sounds indicative of the
mood of the subjects in the visuals.
V STORYBOARDS/EXEMPLARS
See attached in Appendix.
VI ARTIST'S STATEMENT
I am a full-time BAA student at Ryerson enrolled in New Media in the Film and Photography Department for my 4th
year this September. In surrounding summers, I have completed some half-dozen courses in drawing, printing, colour
and composition, as well as painting at the Toronto School of Art. Besides central courses in Design, the third year
of New Media focuses on the internet and WWWeb.
Prior to returning to school as a student, I had worked for a couple of decades teaching, researching and writing in
social research projects involving poverty groups, youth unemployment, crime and delinquency in Canada and Latin
America.
Most central to all of this is my lifelong commitment to exploring and utilizing technical resources (including new
media) in furtherance of progressive social causes.
Skill Set: The main appropriate programs are: Photoshop, perhaps 3Dstudio or SoftImage, but more likely simply
Premiere, Director, Soundforge or SAW, Editly, Fast, Inscriber, etc., and especially HTML coding. I have
done at least introductory work in all of these, although I do need to strengthen my Web appropriate skills
especially. When needed, I will consult with both faculty and fellow students.
VII TARGET AUDIENCE
This new media production will be aimed most centrally at immediate social science electronic journal
editors, their key reviewers, and readers. All those will be engaged to comment upon and refine the
technique and strategies, in an initial electronic survey to editors of some 100 on-line journals; all
respondents will receive by FTP materials produced for the model web-site, and asked for further comments.
Beyond this, after such technical and aesthetic directions are worked out, the products might have wider
appeal to activists and documentarists. In any case, I will have produced material of relevance to various
educators interested in developing the transmission of knowledge via the WEB.
VIII: DISTRIBUTION and VENUE
The production will be available on the web, both at Ryerson New Media, and my own personal site; if the
project attracts a specific journal as an "internship/sponsor" as it develops, we would insist on non-exclusive
distribution rights.
IX: CREW/TEAM (as needed)
Director/Producer/Editor/Content Gordon West
Assistant Technical Producers and Editors: Tomasz Konart, Dave McInnis.
Scripting and Vocals/Overdubs: Anna Keenan, Joanne McConnell
Design : Gordon West, Carrie MacKenzie, Jeff Mckean, Basil Lowe.
Special Effects: Alex Bomberry
Sound Recording, Design and Editing:: Eric Grocock, Chris Watts X: BUDGET
XI PRODUCTION SCHEDULE
Web and Library Research; Proposal Development Submission/Revision:; Pre-Production of Possible Imaging, Design, Graphics. August 1--Oct. 30/98
August 7-Oct. 30 writing and revision of proposal drafts.
Negotiations with journals/editors, etc. Re access/co-operation/support: Development of Questionnaire, Sampling Frame, etc. For administration of Electronic Survey; August 7-Oct. 30/98
Electronic Survey: Oct. 15-Nov. 15
Production of exemplary materials: Logo, Homepage, Editorial, Call for Submissions, Exemplary Case Studies, etc. August 7- Nov. 30/98
Editing:/Post Production/Testing/Development of Second Electronic Survey Nov. 15/98 March 15/99
Solicitation of Audience Response Through Second Electronic Survey: Feb. 15-28/99
Presentation of Final Product/Web-site, etc. March/99
XII Footnote
1 Perhaps the most sophisticated articulation of this notion is found in Marx's epistemology: that the world of appearance, while highly connected to the underlying nexus of human relations, does not directly reveal this underlying structure--i.e., simply depicting our phenomenal, directly experienced world cannot reveal the fundamental underlying structural truths of our human relations which give rise to such phenomena! (Marx and Engels, 1848.) First, if as Marx contends, phenomena can be deceptive and phenomenal categories in some sense inadequate, the inadequacy is not simply one of subjective perception. It isn't a matter of people seeing the world "wrong"; on the contrary, if conceptions correspond to experiences, then the "inadequacies" must lie at the level of experience itself. Illusoriness then becomes a matter of the forms in which the world "presents" itself to experience, and not a matter of inadequate perceptions of these forms. Secondly, and conversely, it is evident that phenomenal categories cannot be totally inadequate; they must allow people to make sense of their experience. (Sayer, 1975: 783) Following Marx, then, we must seek some way to be able to interrogate dominant or taken-for-granted
categories, including lay concepts, but especially including received social scientific and formal-administrative ones. Marx does not merely do political economy, he critiques it, thereby developing a
critique of the social order it as a science comprehends.
XIII Selected References:
S. Airhart,. "Will No Birds Sing in the Wired City?" Review of F. Cairncross, the Death of Distance: How the Communications Revolution Will Change the World. Cambridge MA, USA: Harvard Business School Press, 1997; P. Virilio, Open Sky. London: Verso, 1997; J. Davis, T. Hirschi and M. Stack (eds.), Cutting Edge Technology, Information Capitalism, and Social Revolution. London: Verso. 1997; R. Chodros, R. Murphy, and E. Harnovitch (eds.) Lost in Cyberspace?: Canada and the Information Revolution. Toronto: James Lorimer & Co. 1997; P. Levinson, The Soft Edge: A Natural History of the Information Revolution. London: Routledge. 1997; J. Howkins and R. Valantin (eds.), Development and The Information Age: Four Global Scenarios for the Future of Information and Communications Technology. Ottawa: International Development Research Centre. 1997. The Globe and Mail. Toronto: Jan. 3, 1998. A. Atchley, "Next Exit", multimedia performance at Art Gallery of Ontario, Nov. 1997. P. Atkinson, 1990. S. Barnett, "New Media, Old Problems", European Journal of Communications, 12, 2, 1997, pp 193-215. D. Berg, "Cambridge and Toronto: The Twentieth Century Schools of Communication", The Canadian Journal of Communication, 1985, vol 11, no 3, pp 251-267. G. Bessette, "Empowering People through Information and Communications Technology: Lessons from Experience?", Journal of Development Communication 1997. P. 1-26. "Birmingham School" see www.bham.ac.uk/CulturalStudies/ A. Bomberry, T. Konart, D. MacInnis, A. Pasta, C. Watts, G. West, "6x6=1", http://imagearts.ryerson.ca (?) R. Brilliant, Portraiture. Cambridge Mass, Harvard University Press, 1991. D. Beattie and D. McCallum "Promoting Electronic Scholarly Publication in Canada: Initiatives at Industry Canada", Canadian Journal of Communication. 22 (3/4): 153-160. 1997. A. Boyd-Barret, "Research in International Communication and Globalization: Contradictions and Directions", in A. Mohammadi (ed) International Communications and Globalization. 1000 Oaks, CA, USA: Sage. 1997. J. Borwein and R. South, "On-Line Journal Publication: Two Views from the Electronic Trenches", Canadian Journal of Communication. 22 (3/4): 135-152. 1997. A. Burbules, "Essay Review: Digital Texts and the Future of Scholarly Writing and Publication", Journal of Curriculum Studies. 30 (1): 105-124. 1998 Canadian Intellectual Property Office, A Guide to Copyrights. Ottawa: Industry Canada. 1994. M Castells, The Rise of the Network Society. Volume I of The Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture. Oxford: Blackwell, 1996. M Castells, The Power of Identity Volume II of The Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture. Oxford: Blackwell, 1997a. M Castells, The End of the Millenium. Volume III of The Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture. Oxford: Blackwell, 1997b. J.. Collier, Visual Anthropology: Photography as a Research Method. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. 1967. The Computer Paper, "2 Learn Teaches Teachers to Teach the Web", The Computer Paper. Sept. 1998 A. Cronenberg (ed. C. Rodley), Cronenberg on Cronenberg. Toronto: Knopf, 1992 L. Devereaux and R. Hillman (eds.), Fields of Vision: Essays in Film Studies, Visual Anthropology, and Photography. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. 1995. (See articles by Marcus, Devereaux, Huppauf, MacDougall) A. Duff, "Theorizing the Information Society:" review of M Castells, The Rise of the Network Society: The Information Age. Vol. I. Convergence. Spring Vol 4 (1): 129-133. 1998 S.H. Edwards, "Post Photographic Anxiety: Bit by Bit", in History of Photography, special issue: "Electronic and Digital." Spring 1998. Vol 22, #1. K. Field, "Faculty Perception on Scholarly Communication", Canadian Journal of Communication. 22 (3/4): 161-178. 1997. J. Fiske, Introduction to Communication Studies, 2 Edition. London: Routledge. 1990 M. Foucault, "On Governmentality", in Ideology and Consciousness, no. 6, autumn 1979. F. Ginsburg, "Mediating Culture: Indigenous Media, Ethnographic Film, and the Production of Identity",in L. Devereaux and R. Hillman (eds.), Fields of Vision: Essays in Film Studies, Visual Anthropology, and Photography. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. 1995. (See articles by Marcus, Devereaux, Huppauf, MacDougall) A. Gramsci. Selections from the Prison Notebooks, London:Lawrence and Wishart, 1971, pp. 321-77-473, 12-13, 24-33.pp.106-7, 113,, 130, 166, 169-71, 178-84, 206-77. Graphic Exchange Online: http://www.gxo.com A. Holmes, "Electronic Publication in Science: Reality Check", Canadian Journal of Communication. 22 (3/4): 105-116. 1997. A. Jameson, Postmodernism: or, the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. 1994. M. Jay, "Sartre, Merleau-Ponty, and the Search for a new Ontology of Sight", in D. M. Levin, (ed.), Modernity and the Hegemony of Vision. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. 1993. M. Jensen, "After Scholarship: Making Information Actionable", Canadian Journal of Communication. 22 (3/4): 25-37. 1997. Journal of Visual Anthropology. Journal of Urban Life and Culture. J. Kelly, (ed.), Signal: Communication Tools for the Information Age (A Whole Earth Cataglog) New York: Harmony Books. 1988. A. King, (ed) All My Relations. Toronto: McClelland and Steward. 1994 (?) R. A. Lanham, The Electronic Word: Democracy, Technology and the Arts. Chicago: Univ of Chicago Press. 1993. L.H. Leeson, Clicking In: Hot Links to a Digital Culture. Seattle, WA/USA: Bay Press. 1996 (incl CD-ROM) A. Legge, "Taking it as Red: Michael Snow and Ludwig Wittgenstein", Journal of Canadian Art History. XVIII (2): 68-91, 1997. L. Lopuck, Designing New Media: A Visual Guide to Multimedia and Online Graphic Design.Berkely, CA/USA: Peachpit Press. 1996. K. Marx, Introduction to his Grundrisse. Harmondsworth, UK: Penguin (1858/1973.) K. Marx and F. Engels, The German Ideology. New York: International (1846/1977) A. McLuhan, Understanding Media. New York: MacMillan. 1964: I. Miles and J. Irvine. "The Critique of Official Statistics", in J. Irvine, J. Evans, I. Miles, (eds.) Demystifying Social Statistics, London: Pluto, 1979. L. McDonald. "Debate on Methodology: Positivism and Praxis", p.257-83.The Sociology of Law and Order, Toronto: Methuen,1979. M. Manhoff, "Cyberhope or Cyberhype? Computers and Scholarly Research", Canadian Journal of Communication. 22 (3/4): 197-212. 1997. A. J. Mitchell, The Reconfigured Eye: Visual Truth in the Post-Photographic Era. Cambridge, MA/USA: MIT Press. 1992. A. Munro, Who Do You Think You Are? Toronto: National Geographic Interactive, "Under New York", http://www.nationalgeographic.com/features/97/nyunderground J. O'Neill, "Foucault's Optics: the (In) Vision of Mortality and Modernity", in C. Jencks, (ed.) Visual Culture. London: Routledge. 1995. A. Oquist, "The Epistemology of Action Research" (xerox English trans of Spanish paper in Simposia Mundial de Cartagena, (ed) Critica y Politica en Ciencias Sociales vol 1. Bogota,Colombia: Edit: Punta de Lanza. 1977. D. R. Richardson, Video Lets Me See What I Mean: The Social World of Video Artists. Ph. D. Thesis, McMaster University, 1991. A. Shields, The Orange Fish, Toronto, Vintage, 1989. F. Rowland, I. Bell, C. Falconer, "Human and Economic Factors Affecting the Acceptance of Electronic Journals by Readers", Canadian Journal of Communication. 22 (3/4): 61-75. 1997. D. Sayer, "Method and Dogma in Historical Materialism", Sociological Review. 1975, 23 (4), pp. 779-810. A. Seidman, "The End of Sociological Theory", in S. Seidman, (ed.), The Postmodern Turn: New Perspectives on Social Theory. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. 1994. (See also articles by Rorty, Bauman, Brown) C. Shields, The Orange Fish. Toronto: M. Snow, The Michael Snow Project. Toronto: Art Gallery of Ontario. A. Stalker, "Can I Take Your Picture?: the Strange World of Photography", New Internationalist, No. 185, July 1988, p.3-6 V-Tape, The New Media Guide. Toronto: V-Tape. 1996 United States of America, Library of Congress, "America from the Great Depression to World War II--Photographs from the FSA-OWI, 1935-1945", http://memory.oc.gov/ammem/fsowhome.html L. Weinman, "Synergy of Print and Web", in Graphic Exchange. Oct-Nov. 1998: pp 340-9. (the entire issue is quite interesting and "on-topic") W.G. West, "Phenomenon and Form in Interactionist and Neo-Marxist Qualitative Educational Research", in L. Barton and S. Walker, (eds.) Social Crisis and Educational Research, London: Croom Helm, 1984, pp. 256-87. W.G. West, and H. Walker Larrain, "Estrategias de Investigacion y Participacion Popular: Fundamentando
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(Santiago de Chile) #2, Dic. 1984, pp. 15-36.
XIII Appendices: 1. Electronic Survey Draft of proposed Electronic Survey of Electronic Social Research Journals.
2. Exemplary On-line Sampling Frames for Survey: Electronic Social Science Journal Listings. a. Socio-Site: Electronic Journals and Magaine (http://www.pscw.uva.nl/sociosite/Journals.html#Dutch b. Social Science Virtual Library-Electronic Journals (http://www.clas.ufl.edu/users/gthursby/socsci/ejournal.htm) c. etc.
1. "Typical" Existing Social Science Journals: With some Improving Visual/New Media Aspects. a) "Qualpage" (http://www.ualberta.ca/~jmorris/qual.html a. "Intertexuality and the Writing of Social Research", N.J. Fox, from The Electronic Journal of Sociology, vol 1, no 2, 1995. (http://www.sociology.org/vol001.002.fox.abstract.html) b. The Qualitative Report: Home Page (http://www.nova.edu.ssss/QR/index.html) c. Cultural Studies from Birmingham (http://www.bham.ac.uk/CulturalStudies/) d. etc.
1. "Exemplary Directions" for Visual Presentations/Logos/Mastheads: a. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress (http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/fsowhome.html) b. InfoCulture: CBC's Online Arts and Culture Magazine (http://www.infoculture.cbc.ca/infoculture.html) c. ZoneZero (http://www.zonezero.com) d. National Geographic (http://www.nationalgeographic.com/features/97/nyunderground) e. etc.
1. Mock-ups for main pages in the maquette site. a. Main page b. sub-pages c. editorial etc. |