A night view from the other side of the elderly couple's house. Their village is experiencing a rapid urbanization.
Friday, November 30, 2012
Nov. 29th field notes
A night view from the other side of the elderly couple's house. Their village is experiencing a rapid urbanization.
Monday, November 19, 2012
SOME PROGRESS OF METHODOLOGY
THIS IS PART OF A FIRST DRAFT OF METHODOLOGY.
PROOFREADING IS NEEDED.
THIS IS JUST UPDATED METHODOLOGY AFTER WE TALKED NOV.15TH.
Photo-elicitation is employed in my study because, as Harper(2002) stated, it induces interviewees to provide their insights into photographs they witness in front of them. Due to the nature of photo-elicitation, its way could awaken informants’ unconsciousness when they try to interpret photographs while asked verbal questions associated with the photographs they look at. It means photo-elicitation is a good way for me, as a researcher, to have glimpses of what interviewees would perceive.
My goal for the interview is to gain insights of both of the subjects and outsiders on photographs they witness. I will use the same selection when conducting interviews.
Even though the interview will be conducted for two different groups; the subjects and outsiders, the photograph selection for interview will be the same. Otherwise, different picture selection will fail to obtain the glimpse of the same pictures which both the subjects and outsiders will interpret. It means that different picture selection according to the subjects and outsiders refrains me from comparing how the two interview group perceive the photographs.
However, I’m aware that the photograph selection for the subjects, the one which subjects can provide their insights more than others, does not mean that the selection is good for outsiders. For instance, the small pot on the steps can be a good selection which might have a lot of stories about what subjects have done with it, but outsiders would not know anything about it when being exposed of it.
Selection criteria will be mixed with natural photographs and photographs containing their activities. Even though natural photographs, the ones portraying their private spaces and places such as rooms and their items, might be more appropriate for photo-elicitation, the single criterion of picture selection might prevent outsiders from deciphering the natural photographs.
- general activity ; alone/ interactions among them.
- natural photographs ; their (private) places and personal items etc.
- activity; their works
For photo-elicitation, after I complete to photograph the subjects, between 8 and 12 photographs will be selected for the interview. Subjects will be given some time taking a look at them by themselves. After their first exposure to the photographs, they will be asked about their first impressions on them. Then, they will be provided additional time for second viewing, and be given some questions I prepare for.
The number of the interviewees including outsider is six - two from the family, eldest daughter and mother; two of the elderly couple and two outsiders.
Nov 18th field notes
Views from the top of the town.
I believe subjects would have stories during the interview if they see those.
Nov. 18th field notes
Some homes have been abandoned and the city try to rebuild them as a cultural center where tourists can access when visiting this village.
Children of the family go to the church where they can hang out and eat some food rather than they pray.
This village becomes a tourist destination where people, even foreign tourists can witness the most collectively undeveloped place in Busan, the second biggest city in Korea.
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
PART OF A FIRST DRAFT OF METHODOLOGY
THIS IS PART OF A FIRST DRAFT OF METHODOLOGY.
A PROOFREADING IS NEEDED.
Methodology
For this study, two subjects will be selected and photographed to learn poverty in Korea. The point of selecting the subjects is to identify those who represent poverty in modern society of Korea. In addition, in-depth depiction of poverty is of importance as well. For this study, photographing few subjects will be more efficient to deeply portray how poverty looks like in Korea. Thus, given future interviews committed, having few subjects is to avoid complication of viewing many different subjects and to let outside interviewees focus on and apprehend subjects. Therefore, I focus on two subjects who I believe well project poverty in Korea- particularly in Busan, a second biggest city in Korea. Two subjects are categorized by a family with children and an elderly couple living by themselves. Those different type of a family will project a different sort of a living style which can contribute a diversity of poverty. For instance, a family with children will allow me to view the interactions between parents and their children, and their children themselves. In contrast, an elderly couple is unable to show much interaction with each other. Furthermore, during interviews, the family with children would be expected to provide more insights into their relationships both between parents and their children and their children by themselves.
Another point when to select subjects is location of subjects - where they currently live in the city. First, the family with children has lived in a poor town believed to be the most vast poor area located near in Busan Port. It is a well-known place where economically the underprivileged people have lived since Korean War in 1950. The fact that the place is identified with a historical site of retaining an old-fashioned living style attracts tourists -even foreign tourists. The family have lived in the place where historically the poor have resided. Second, on the contrary, the elderly couple have lived in a town where it becomes so urbanized with the dazzling apartment complex surrounding their home. It means that the town recently experiences civilization except the couple’s house. Therefore, the two different selection of subjects living in a unparalleled site is expected to glimpse a different aspect when it comes to show poverty in Korea.
I would choose 15 photographs for each of the subjects for an interview with them. During the interviews, all of the two subjects are questioned about the following questions.
Lists of questions
- Can you say about this photograph?
- What do you think this photograph means to you?
follow-up questions
- What do you think it could miss in this photograph? -
Rather than a collective interview with multiple persons, an individual interview with a single person will be implemented given the concerns whether their family members could interrupt their own responses. Another important point of interviews is that outsiders, not both of the family members, will be interviewed to learn how non-members of the family think about poverty I photograph. It will provide different insights into poverty which outsiders think the subject reflects. Thus, responses obtained from outsiders will allow me to identify what I miss in my photographs. Who will be selected for outsider interviewees?
- social class economically
wealth - middle-aged person
poor- middle-aged person
- age and gender
young man
young woman
old man
old woman
Questions for outsider interviewees.
- What do you think the selection demonstrate about?
- Can you select, if you can, the best five(?) images which describe poverty? and would you tell me why you choose them?
- What does this selection misses to depict poverty? -
Methodology
For this study, two subjects will be selected and photographed to learn poverty in Korea. The point of selecting the subjects is to identify those who represent poverty in modern society of Korea. In addition, in-depth depiction of poverty is of importance as well. For this study, photographing few subjects will be more efficient to deeply portray how poverty looks like in Korea. Thus, given future interviews committed, having few subjects is to avoid complication of viewing many different subjects and to let outside interviewees focus on and apprehend subjects. Therefore, I focus on two subjects who I believe well project poverty in Korea- particularly in Busan, a second biggest city in Korea. Two subjects are categorized by a family with children and an elderly couple living by themselves. Those different type of a family will project a different sort of a living style which can contribute a diversity of poverty. For instance, a family with children will allow me to view the interactions between parents and their children, and their children themselves. In contrast, an elderly couple is unable to show much interaction with each other. Furthermore, during interviews, the family with children would be expected to provide more insights into their relationships both between parents and their children and their children by themselves.
Another point when to select subjects is location of subjects - where they currently live in the city. First, the family with children has lived in a poor town believed to be the most vast poor area located near in Busan Port. It is a well-known place where economically the underprivileged people have lived since Korean War in 1950. The fact that the place is identified with a historical site of retaining an old-fashioned living style attracts tourists -even foreign tourists. The family have lived in the place where historically the poor have resided. Second, on the contrary, the elderly couple have lived in a town where it becomes so urbanized with the dazzling apartment complex surrounding their home. It means that the town recently experiences civilization except the couple’s house. Therefore, the two different selection of subjects living in a unparalleled site is expected to glimpse a different aspect when it comes to show poverty in Korea.
I would choose 15 photographs for each of the subjects for an interview with them. During the interviews, all of the two subjects are questioned about the following questions.
Lists of questions
- Can you say about this photograph?
- What do you think this photograph means to you?
follow-up questions
- What do you think it could miss in this photograph? -
Rather than a collective interview with multiple persons, an individual interview with a single person will be implemented given the concerns whether their family members could interrupt their own responses. Another important point of interviews is that outsiders, not both of the family members, will be interviewed to learn how non-members of the family think about poverty I photograph. It will provide different insights into poverty which outsiders think the subject reflects. Thus, responses obtained from outsiders will allow me to identify what I miss in my photographs. Who will be selected for outsider interviewees?
- social class economically
wealth - middle-aged person
poor- middle-aged person
- age and gender
young man
young woman
old man
old woman
Questions for outsider interviewees.
- What do you think the selection demonstrate about?
- Can you select, if you can, the best five(?) images which describe poverty? and would you tell me why you choose them?
- What does this selection misses to depict poverty? -
Sunday, November 4, 2012
PART OF A FIRST DRAFT OF INTRODUCTION
THIS IS PART OF A FIRST DRAFT OF INTRODUCTION.
A PROOFREADING IS NEEDED.
My interest in poverty has been back to when I first did my project portraying the poor living in a shanty town of Seoul, Korea in 2003. I was an intern in newspaper, the one who first illustrated the area, called ‘Chok-bang’ in the newspaper. My photographs were published in it and won in College Reporting competition. Ever since then, I unconsciously was interested in the poor whose their lives were not shown in Korean media well. Thus, I personally felt guilty of what I had and thought most of the poor deserved more than they did. This is because I believe their underprivileged lives were caused by this society, rather than caused by the lack of their assiduity or their natures. It means to me that our society should have taken care of them more and paid attention to their unfortune. I have learned that in most case, both Korea and U.S. media have not focused on poverty in their country for their own reasons. If I take a risk to generalize it, portrayals of poverty in U.S. media, in many case, are stereotyped due to colors and gender. In Korea, however, most media seem to have no interest in it with respect to its frequency of publishment in Korean media. When it comes to conservative media, its frequency becomes less. Lack of portrayals of poverty in Korean media and various stereotype of poverty in U.S. media prompted me to photograph poverty here.
What I am concerned about is whether these two subjects I am supposed to photograph could represent poverty in Korea. However, given the fact it is impossible for me to photograph all of the poverty in Korea, it is better to put more efforts to find subjects who, I think, reflect poverty well. It has encouraged me to spend more time identifying ‘ideal’ subjects. Having been refused by some subjects, I believed the two subjects I photograph are good enough for my project. I have built a good relationship with these subjects, but I keep worried if they someday notify that they do not like me to photograph them anymore. In my previous attempts to have subjects, some subjects, all of sudden, asked me not to take pictures of them, which led a failure of completing story-tellings. Even though I fully explained my intentions and plans to photograph them, some never seemed to understand why I want to photograph them in a long-term project. It has frustrated me to have them apprehended but I soon accepted what I faced and what they were. It is a good chance for me to keep a good relationship with both of two subjects beyond photographing them for my study. The more I get to know them, the better I feel I understand how they feel and what they have experienced.
I have focused on urban poverty in Busan, a second largest city in Korea, because I have stayed in this city for three years and I believe where I am is the best place I can explore. In addition to the size of city, this city has become modernized recently- there is a so-called biggest department store in the world and a tallest apartment building in Korea. However, because part of the absence of massive destruction caused by Korean War in 1950, this city has maintained both past and present. These facts, I believe, contribute to unparallel portrayals of urban poverty for my study. One of my subject, an elderly couple, is living near the highly-developed area of witnessing gentrification in this city. They have lived for nearly 60 years after their marriage. They raised three children before their children made their own family. The house looks impoverished compared to living conditions right near skyscrapers, their those are very poor- the lack of proper repairs of their home and basic needs. Things striking me is that they live in a separate room. Their activities happen in a different place except dining. The woman said they have lived together long enough and need a somewhat independence/privacy from each other. They sometime invite their neighbors to have dinner together. The couple know many neighbors around their house because they live here for many years. Their major activity that they do together is to offer prayer in other’s private home, They are religious with a quite unique belief of which some call it heretical stemming from Buddhism. They study and pray once a month with a small group of people sharing the same belief.
My second subject is a family with four children. They have lived in a historically poor village between mountains in Busan. It is one of the few remaining villages to see collectively poor living standards. They have rented their house for several years. Father have earned little money enough to feed his family. Mother used to pick up used items from garbage on the street but she was not able to continue to work due to her health issue. She is just taking care of her youngest baby at home. Their children spend time with themselves after school because most of their school friends join a after-school program. They play outside while passing through narrow aisles among the packed houses and watch TV while being in home.
My interest in poverty has been back to when I first did my project portraying the poor living in a shanty town of Seoul, Korea in 2003. I was an intern in newspaper, the one who first illustrated the area, called ‘Chok-bang’ in the newspaper. My photographs were published in it and won in College Reporting competition. Ever since then, I unconsciously was interested in the poor whose their lives were not shown in Korean media well. Thus, I personally felt guilty of what I had and thought most of the poor deserved more than they did. This is because I believe their underprivileged lives were caused by this society, rather than caused by the lack of their assiduity or their natures. It means to me that our society should have taken care of them more and paid attention to their unfortune. I have learned that in most case, both Korea and U.S. media have not focused on poverty in their country for their own reasons. If I take a risk to generalize it, portrayals of poverty in U.S. media, in many case, are stereotyped due to colors and gender. In Korea, however, most media seem to have no interest in it with respect to its frequency of publishment in Korean media. When it comes to conservative media, its frequency becomes less. Lack of portrayals of poverty in Korean media and various stereotype of poverty in U.S. media prompted me to photograph poverty here.
What I am concerned about is whether these two subjects I am supposed to photograph could represent poverty in Korea. However, given the fact it is impossible for me to photograph all of the poverty in Korea, it is better to put more efforts to find subjects who, I think, reflect poverty well. It has encouraged me to spend more time identifying ‘ideal’ subjects. Having been refused by some subjects, I believed the two subjects I photograph are good enough for my project. I have built a good relationship with these subjects, but I keep worried if they someday notify that they do not like me to photograph them anymore. In my previous attempts to have subjects, some subjects, all of sudden, asked me not to take pictures of them, which led a failure of completing story-tellings. Even though I fully explained my intentions and plans to photograph them, some never seemed to understand why I want to photograph them in a long-term project. It has frustrated me to have them apprehended but I soon accepted what I faced and what they were. It is a good chance for me to keep a good relationship with both of two subjects beyond photographing them for my study. The more I get to know them, the better I feel I understand how they feel and what they have experienced.
I have focused on urban poverty in Busan, a second largest city in Korea, because I have stayed in this city for three years and I believe where I am is the best place I can explore. In addition to the size of city, this city has become modernized recently- there is a so-called biggest department store in the world and a tallest apartment building in Korea. However, because part of the absence of massive destruction caused by Korean War in 1950, this city has maintained both past and present. These facts, I believe, contribute to unparallel portrayals of urban poverty for my study. One of my subject, an elderly couple, is living near the highly-developed area of witnessing gentrification in this city. They have lived for nearly 60 years after their marriage. They raised three children before their children made their own family. The house looks impoverished compared to living conditions right near skyscrapers, their those are very poor- the lack of proper repairs of their home and basic needs. Things striking me is that they live in a separate room. Their activities happen in a different place except dining. The woman said they have lived together long enough and need a somewhat independence/privacy from each other. They sometime invite their neighbors to have dinner together. The couple know many neighbors around their house because they live here for many years. Their major activity that they do together is to offer prayer in other’s private home, They are religious with a quite unique belief of which some call it heretical stemming from Buddhism. They study and pray once a month with a small group of people sharing the same belief.
My second subject is a family with four children. They have lived in a historically poor village between mountains in Busan. It is one of the few remaining villages to see collectively poor living standards. They have rented their house for several years. Father have earned little money enough to feed his family. Mother used to pick up used items from garbage on the street but she was not able to continue to work due to her health issue. She is just taking care of her youngest baby at home. Their children spend time with themselves after school because most of their school friends join a after-school program. They play outside while passing through narrow aisles among the packed houses and watch TV while being in home.
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