Robert Cole brings up a number of issues and points in his introduction. He relates documentary work and the work of psychiatrists by bringing up the idea that people can not be impartial. He says that “we notice what we notice in accordance with who we are” (7). This can connect back to documentary work because it is impossible to be impartial out in the field, simply because of your identity.
But how does Robert Cole define field? He says quite a few things about fields when it comes to documentary work. He also describes the field as “the critical matter being an attitude toward the life that surrounds one…”(14). In the case of “A Move,” the field is Elahe’s own family and friends. She is entering a place where she stands out from everyone else because of her beliefs and how she chooses to present herself. She depicts her home as one that is very traditional for Iran, and by entering the field, she is hoping to make a change and push the boundaries of what is socially acceptable for women. In many of the clips from the documentary, you can clearly see how Elahe stands out from those around her and is in stark contrast to the other women. This can further emphasize how Elahe is stepping into a place where she does not have the same attitude as those around her in order to help make a change.
Bob Moses is one person who stood out to me in chapter 1 of “Doing Documentary Work” by Robert Coles. “Once more, the issue is that of location–how a particular writer or researcher decides to commit himself or herself with respect to those others being studied, watched, heard, made the subject of a writing initiative” (32). In my opinion, his quote speaks to the main idea in this chapter. When doing documentary work, the creator has to make sure that they are taking good care of the subjects. This does not mean just consciously making an effort not to do harm. But understanding that they might be doing unintentional harm, and need to hold themselves accountable for that
Moses was the leader of a civil rights activist group called the “Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee “ (SNCC). The part of the chapter that stood out to me is on page 38. Bob says: “Don’t you see, that’s been our story–the black story: everyone calls us something! …That’s where we are; that’s where we’re coming from; that’s our ‘place’ in all this! You folks–can be yourselves! You can wander all over the map. You can be here and you can be there. You can go set up your tent wherever you think it’ll do you good!… So, it’s location, man, location, for us: where we’re at, and where you’re at, and where we can go, and where you can go…” This quote stands out to me because it comes from a context of Coles going to the south during the civil rights movement in hopes of documenting what was going on with the movement. He met with the leader, expressing how different locations can be for black men and white men. It further connects to the idea of location, because Coles was able to go into the south and do his research because of his location as a white man. Because of this, he could be doing unintentional harm by trying to document what he is seeing. Moses says on 38: “In America, a guy like you makes a reputation when you’re here, studying us, if you come up with a bunch of psychological and sociological ideas about us…pretty soon it’s news and you write a book…they know about ‘types’ and ‘problems’ and ‘beliefs’– anything to bunch folks together in any way the one doing the ‘research’…can figure out, and the catchier the way its done, the bigger the payoff.”
These ideas that Coles and Moses are bringing up cause me to reflect on my experience visiting the house. On a civil rights tour of the South, I was taking pictures like this one to document my trip and everything that I had learned. As the trip went on, I realized that I was not doing the right thing by posting these things on social media. I was not aware of my location, and was not doing the work that should’ve been done on this trip. This further connects to Coles’ point about “the issue is that of location–how a particular writer or researcher decides to commit himself or herself with respect to those others being studied, watched, heard, made the subject of a writing initiative,” and this chapter and quotes really reminded me of that experience
Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas
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