[Last modified: November, 25 2024 04:57 PM]
A couple classmates and I walked across the road to a small food market. Upon arrival one of them split off and A and I explored the area, considering how the roofs were well suited for parkour, before settling down on the side of the church for a chat infront of three foodstalls.
While we chatted in the back of my mind I considered the sensory information I was able to perceive. While it was a loud environment I tried to filter out this source of information, instead focusing on the intimate conversation A and I were having. One thing I could not filter however were the smells, my nose was constantly greeting by different scents wafting in our direction, smoke, fried onions, paprika and barbequed chicken all had there turn at alerting me to what a rich environment we were in. I wondering how I could best represent this in an ethnography, visual mediums could not do it justice, text could be an option but I think you’d have to be skilled, perhaps audio was the best.
While this sounds counterintuitive, audio perhaps telling the audience less about the food itself than visual mediums, I think it would emphasise the weight of this sensory stimuli. Let me explain, as I mention A and I were having a pretty intimate conversation about our family histories, how it’s impacted us, and how it’s been a significant part in shaping who we are today. If this conversation was recorded, the act of interrupting A while they were telling me something quite personal to comment on the various smells would add significant weight to their intensity, depth and dominance of the atmosphere.
As I alluded to earlier, I did not record the conversation, and I feel conflicted over this. On one hand I don’t have media which would’ve added richness to my reflection of the field work. On the other A and I were having a personal conversation, and I think he would have phrased things differently, or perhaps omitted certain parts (perhaps even unconsciously) due to the recording, I know I would have second guessed my own answers. From this experience I take that in fieldwork one cannot collect everything. Some questions and mediums will generate a certain type of information, but at the same time exclude different methods and creation of other information in the same moment.