Arts to SciencesRobert Coles frequently emphasizes in his book Doing Documentary Work that a photographer’s work reflects not only their perception of the subject but also their background and emotional state. What surprises me is how different photographers can perceive the same subject in countless ways. Another crucial lesson I learned is that capturing something personal is the most challenging task. Until now, I have been taking pictures of landscapes, happy people, and fancy pens, but I have never truly connected with these photos. During my graduate school years, as part of a class on Documentary Photography, I worked on a project titled Arts to Sciences, which reflects who I am and where I belong most of the time—as a graduate student. Initially, it started as a simple project where I wanted to document the transition of a semester using my study table. However, I noticed that despite the books and other items moving around, certain things—like a travel map and Broadway show brochures—remained constant. This struck me as a reflection of my desire to explore the city amidst the academic chaos surrounding me. As the semester progressed, this idea evolved into a broader project: photographing study tables of other students to see what remained consistent in their lives amidst the ever-changing clutter. As I started photographing study tables, I felt the project was becoming monotonous, so I included people in the pictures, pretending to study. Then, I read Coles’ differentiation between Natural Scientists and Social Scientists. He states, "...careers usually made in the social sciences as a consequence of one's willingness and capacity to move from the specific instance to the more general, the conceptual," and "...we hear of science, a systematic ordering of knowledge presumably based on the sorting and sorting of information..." (Coles, 1997). He defines natural science as specific and orderly, whereas social science is more general and conceptual. Being a natural science student who transitioned into social sciences, I related deeply to what Coles was conveying. This inspired me to study the workspaces of natural science students, such as their labs and desks. I wasn’t able to draw a clear distinction, but I did observe that labs in the natural sciences exuded a sense of order and specificity. An interesting extension to this project would be capturing the workspaces of arts students engaged in pottery and sculpting. The overarching goal of this project was to explore three different academic realms—natural sciences, social sciences, and the arts—and uncover subtle similarities within their stark differences. I also feel that if academics had a spectrum, arts and sciences would sit on opposite ends, with social sciences lingering somewhere in between. Determined to expand the project, I started reaching out to gain access to an art room and a science lab. Fortunately, I secured entry into two chemistry labs and a sculpting studio. For social sciences, we primarily have workspaces, so I asked a few friends if I could photograph their cubicles around campus. When I began compiling the pictures, my initial intention was to depict the specificity and order of a science lab, transition to the structured workspaces of social sciences, and end with the chaotic freedom of an arts room. However, as I progressed, I struggled to find three representative pictures from each category to form consistent triptychs. Ultimately, I decided to drop social sciences and instead pair images of sculpting rooms with chemistry labs. Surprisingly, I found more similarities than differences. Here is the result of my four-month-long project.
REFERENCES Coles, R. (1997). Doing documentary work. New York Public Library.
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