[Last modified: October, 27 2024 05:52 PM]
Fall was in the air on this chilly, overcast Friday in Gordon Square Garden. Sitting on a cold stone ledge at the edge of the Garden, I directed my attention to pigeons flocking in a nearby corner. Three young people, likely students on a break from class, were feeding the pigeons. The pigeons, for their part, appeared quite happy with this development, as their cooing and flapping could be heard from my spot a few feet away. Unlike the pigeons, flocking together for a social meal (and their chefs, so to speak), most people in Gordon Square Park were alone, heads down, and likely on their way to an important class, meeting or job: such is the hustle and bustle of London, that you cannot escape the chaos, even in the most tranquil of green spaces.
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In my vignette above, I hoped to highlight some of the keywords I identified from this field note experience: social exchange (or the lack thereof), multi-species encounters, and the built environment. In this vignette, the key story I wanted to tell was how the business and loneliness of London persists in the Garden, an urban green space that is part of the built environment, yet may have been intentioned to provide a break from London’s busyness and brick walls. Further, I wanted to reflect on what I found to be the most interesting part of this field work exercise, the multi-species exchange between the three young people and the flock of pigeons. This stood out to me not only as a clear example of a multi species encounter, but also as a departure from the continuum of social exchanges (specifically the absence of them) that the London built environment may facilitate. Reflecting on my experience, I think it is worth exploring how the key words I have identified are intertwined with one another.
Having taken a couple days away from the field and this exercise, I found my notes really helpful in taking me back to that moment, and remembering what I saw, even if I didn’t necessarily have the chance to write down every detail. Specially, I found that writing down the specifics of the environment in which I found myself, such as the weather and the sounds around me helped me remember what I observed, and why I found it important to write down. However, I definitely feel like more practice would be essential as I am very new to writing field notes, and I think that I have forgotten quite a few details. In the future, I’d like to focus in more on what I found important (in this case, the pigeons and the young people), and work on recording more details relevant to these instances so that I might be able to both better remember what occurred, and be better able to apply an anthropological lens to my observations. As well, I think it would be wise to practice my drawing skills in order to better recall the environments or situations I will find myself in.
October 25th, 2024: Field Notes by author.
