Award Winner for Volume 14
Scaping the Social: Understanding the Waterscapes of the American Southwest through Panoramic Photography
This visual essay, based on three years of visual ethnographic research in the American Southwest, asks: What social-analytical interpretation can be made from landscape photographs, and even more generally, of panoramic depictions of the world at the intersections of the social and natural? The essay tackles some of the complexities of this question by examining “waterscapes,” defined as water infrastructure, technology, and geography as they are shaped by human experience with nature. Deploying the method of panoramic photography in these “liminal spaces,” the essay argues for a visual sociological approach that should not limit photographic confrontations with reality to obviously photogenic urban or humanistic scenes. Furthermore, the images illustrate how photography, can be used not only as an “ethnographic passport” to people(s) as a means of gaining privileged access, but also in a broader sense of encountering spaces, processes, and institutions, thus assisting in unpacking various layers of society. The images are presented according to their depictions of (1) provision and regulation, and (2) nature and culture, which have become key axes of struggle in the ongoing “water wars” of the American Southwest and Borderlands region.
There is an extensive history of visual surveying of the Americas, and especially of the American West, its peoples, and territories. In this project, I began with this in mind, and asked: what social-analytical interpretation can be made from landscape photographs, and even more generally, of panoramic depictions of the world at the intersections of the social and natural? Put differently, how do panoramic visual tools impact our visioning of the social and of the built environment? Across more than three years of work, I photographed the region extensively. And my essay in the International Journal of the Image represents an attempt to tackle some of the complexities of these questions by examining certain spaces and places in the American West as “waterscapes.” These are defined as locations of water infrastructure, technology, and geography, places shaped by human experiences with nature and technology. One consequential aspect of this work is that the waterscapes of the American Southwest have been given a renewed interest as important sites of social, political, economic, and environmental struggle in light of prolonged droughts that are linked to climate change. And so, this essay proposes, a visual ethnographic approach might enable a frank encounter with these places, and the profound political questions they represent. In addition to these interests, my piece was driven by methodological interests. The essay argues for a visual sociological approach that should not limit photographic confrontations with reality to obviously photogenic urban or humanistic scenes. Furthermore, the images illustrate how photography, can be used not only as an “ethnographic passport” to people(s) as a means of gaining privileged access, but also in a broader sense of encountering spaces, processes, and institutions, thus assisting in unpacking various layers of society. The images are presented according to their depictions of (1) provision and regulation, and (2) nature and culture, which have become key axes of struggle in the ongoing “water wars” of the American Southwest and Borderlands region.
— Brian O'Neill