Dear Visual & Social Beings & Thinkers,
As a kid in the 1980s, two of my favorite activities were riding bikes and visual technologies that enabled access to other worlds. I also have a lifelong interest in Latin American cultures and traveled to Central and South America in college and graduate school. I am currently conducting dissertation research with youth media makers in Appalachia and how they use visual art and media to envision possibilities for themselves and the region. So when I saw this photo by Rachel Tanur, I was immediately drawn into the narrow focus of the “Cuban Boy with Bike and Game” and shared a similar captivation as she captured on his intent face.
Aesthetically, I love the contrasting texture and neutral tones of the brick street and building with the vibrant colors and sleekness of the quite new-looking bicycle. I also love the seeming contrast of the human-powered transportation technology of the bicycle juxtaposed with the electronic video game; however, both represent different forms of mobility in relation to Appadurai's notion of different -scapes or movements of people, technologies, etc. The boy is also wearing neutral tones, but his physical and visual connection to both devices and his level of concentration prevent the camouflage of his presence in the doorway. The continuous line from his elbow, his knee, his hands, to the game and the handlebar of the bike make it seem as if they are all one entity.
The fact that there are no other people around furthers the metaphor and illusion that he is in his own little world. Does he notice Rachel? Do they speak? There is also mystery as to what game he is playing, on what device, how he got it, why he is playing in that location, and where the bike will take him next. The game could be an escape from chores or even harsher realities, but it also connects the boy to larger global systems, including capitalism, in spite of the fact that he lives in Cuba. Of course, we do not know his exact geo-political location based on the content of the photo, but we are still given clues about the Global South context in which he bridges assumptions about technological access and engagement. Similarly, young people in the Appalachian region and the media content they produce also challenge assumptions about who they are and how their people and place are represented.
There is also an important temporal dimension to this photo given the time period it was likely taken (mid-late 1990s?) and the rapid acceleration of technology and electronic devices globally. Tanur captured this particular moment and this particular game, but the underlying theme of ubiquitous technology and its association with youth can be applied to almost any time period. Therefore, it provides an interesting opportunity for the viewer to imagine and insert newer games or information/communication technologies into the picture with ease. I could list examples from the current moment of 2018, but it would be more productive to invite viewers to fill in the blanks appropriate to their own temporal present: ___, ___, ___, etc.
As a feminist scholar who teaches media literacy and production to teenage girls, I also reimagine the scene with a Cuban girl instead and ponder what she might hold in her hands so intently. Technologies are often gendered, and digital technologies are usually represented as a masculine area of expertise and occupational possibility. Access to physical mobility is also a gendered experience, so the image of a “Cuban Girl with Game and Bike” would disrupt multiple narratives about circulations of knowledge, technologies, and gendered bodies. What assumptions would this image challenge, and what questions would it raise? Would it have mattered to her that Rachel was a woman photographer interested in her story? The window of possibilities that Rachel Tanur captured with this photo and the technology that produced it are simultaneously time-specific and timeless, place-based and placeless, gendered and genderless.
Be Kind, Be Kin,
*AnthroBone
p.s. This photo essay was part of my submission for the biennial Rachel Tanur Memorial Prize in Visual Sociology. The application consisted of two commentaries, one based on one of Rachel Tanur's numerous photos and one about an original photo submission, each giving "a sociological analysis of the selected visual material, based on theoretical and applied social science methods."
I was not selected as a winner, but all submissions in response to Rachel Tanur's photos are archived online. This is a re-post of my essay about her photo “Cuban Boy with Bike and Game” (with a couple of minor corrections).
p.p.s. Speaking of the '80s, this Bonus Track is a classic clip from Pee-Wee's Big Adventure (1985), a story about a boy and his bike, and one of my favorite movies (both at the time, and of all time). And yes, I totally meant to do that...
As a kid in the 1980s, two of my favorite activities were riding bikes and visual technologies that enabled access to other worlds. I also have a lifelong interest in Latin American cultures and traveled to Central and South America in college and graduate school. I am currently conducting dissertation research with youth media makers in Appalachia and how they use visual art and media to envision possibilities for themselves and the region. So when I saw this photo by Rachel Tanur, I was immediately drawn into the narrow focus of the “Cuban Boy with Bike and Game” and shared a similar captivation as she captured on his intent face.
 |
| "Cuban Boy with Bike and Game" Photo by Rachel Tanur (Also see her complete gallery) |
Aesthetically, I love the contrasting texture and neutral tones of the brick street and building with the vibrant colors and sleekness of the quite new-looking bicycle. I also love the seeming contrast of the human-powered transportation technology of the bicycle juxtaposed with the electronic video game; however, both represent different forms of mobility in relation to Appadurai's notion of different -scapes or movements of people, technologies, etc. The boy is also wearing neutral tones, but his physical and visual connection to both devices and his level of concentration prevent the camouflage of his presence in the doorway. The continuous line from his elbow, his knee, his hands, to the game and the handlebar of the bike make it seem as if they are all one entity.
The fact that there are no other people around furthers the metaphor and illusion that he is in his own little world. Does he notice Rachel? Do they speak? There is also mystery as to what game he is playing, on what device, how he got it, why he is playing in that location, and where the bike will take him next. The game could be an escape from chores or even harsher realities, but it also connects the boy to larger global systems, including capitalism, in spite of the fact that he lives in Cuba. Of course, we do not know his exact geo-political location based on the content of the photo, but we are still given clues about the Global South context in which he bridges assumptions about technological access and engagement. Similarly, young people in the Appalachian region and the media content they produce also challenge assumptions about who they are and how their people and place are represented.
There is also an important temporal dimension to this photo given the time period it was likely taken (mid-late 1990s?) and the rapid acceleration of technology and electronic devices globally. Tanur captured this particular moment and this particular game, but the underlying theme of ubiquitous technology and its association with youth can be applied to almost any time period. Therefore, it provides an interesting opportunity for the viewer to imagine and insert newer games or information/communication technologies into the picture with ease. I could list examples from the current moment of 2018, but it would be more productive to invite viewers to fill in the blanks appropriate to their own temporal present: ___, ___, ___, etc.
As a feminist scholar who teaches media literacy and production to teenage girls, I also reimagine the scene with a Cuban girl instead and ponder what she might hold in her hands so intently. Technologies are often gendered, and digital technologies are usually represented as a masculine area of expertise and occupational possibility. Access to physical mobility is also a gendered experience, so the image of a “Cuban Girl with Game and Bike” would disrupt multiple narratives about circulations of knowledge, technologies, and gendered bodies. What assumptions would this image challenge, and what questions would it raise? Would it have mattered to her that Rachel was a woman photographer interested in her story? The window of possibilities that Rachel Tanur captured with this photo and the technology that produced it are simultaneously time-specific and timeless, place-based and placeless, gendered and genderless.
Be Kind, Be Kin,
*AnthroBone
p.s. This photo essay was part of my submission for the biennial Rachel Tanur Memorial Prize in Visual Sociology. The application consisted of two commentaries, one based on one of Rachel Tanur's numerous photos and one about an original photo submission, each giving "a sociological analysis of the selected visual material, based on theoretical and applied social science methods."
I was not selected as a winner, but all submissions in response to Rachel Tanur's photos are archived online. This is a re-post of my essay about her photo “Cuban Boy with Bike and Game” (with a couple of minor corrections).
p.p.s. Speaking of the '80s, this Bonus Track is a classic clip from Pee-Wee's Big Adventure (1985), a story about a boy and his bike, and one of my favorite movies (both at the time, and of all time). And yes, I totally meant to do that...
No comments:
Post a Comment