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Summer 2016

The summer of 2016 has been full of what I'm going to call, "low-key adventures." 

If you follow me on Instagram, you've seen my move to Florida and some of the sights and sounds in a land of palms. 

I was also able to visit New York and NewJersey and some choice friends and family, who were kind enough to let me sleep in their living rooms and spare bedroom. 

I also got to shoot hockey for the first time while visiting my friend Gabby! (Whose name you'll see on several of the pictures of myself around my site. What can I say, she just knows how to capture me.) Her hockey team let me sit on their bench and take photos of one of their games, and I had a lot of fun!

The first time shooting any sport can be difficult, so my images aren't quite the best quality I would like—but practice makes you better! So I guess I'll just have to keep shooting hockey. 

I actually took a lot more video than I did photos for this trip, and managed to make a short montage of my New York experience: 

Those have been the highlights of my summer so far! Aside from a few real estate shoots, but if anyone wants me to put those up, I will!

Keep a look out for more posts about photography, journalism, and my misadventures! I might do a seasonal wrap up post like this for every season, if you guys like this one. 

Send me feedback!

Peace 'til next time, Shelby

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Fall 2016

Time for my second seasonal wrap-up! I really like this compilation of my life in photos, so I'm gonna keep it up. 

First on the autumnal agenda was my dad's annual Chili Cook-Off. The beginning of fall is incomplete without it, in my humble opinion. 

I also have to showcase the cuteness of my nephew in his little fox hoodie: 

I also shot and edited my first solo wedding this fall! Thank you to Amanda and Sam for letting me make their portraits. 

At their wedding they also had fresh oysters, which, of course, I had to capture: 

And the pièces de résistance of my fall, dog portraits. 

Fall 2016 wasn't the most exciting picture-making period in my life, but it certainly was fun. Stay tuned for a Winter wrap-up in March!

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Women's March St. Louis, January 21, 2017

I was fortunate enough to get to attend the Women's March in St. Louis. Here's what I saw. 

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Blog Switcheroo

Hello! It’s been a while since I’ve posted here, but I assure you, I’m still kicking and screaming. 

I’ve decided to stop using this blog for actual blogging, since tumblr’s interface doesn’t allow for the kind of blogging I like or want to create. 

So! What does that mean for this blog?

It means that I will be posting images and thoughts here from time to time, but will not be using it to promote my work. Here, you’ll see more frivolous and fun content, hopefully!

To see my professional work and blog, please visit my website. 

And with that, I’m out. ‘Til next time!

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My First Attempt at Visual Research

Disclaimer: I am using a very basic working knowledge of how to do visual research and a basic knowledge of proxemics and related concepts.

My first attempt at using images to gather data for research purposes was somewhat fruitful. I used images that I and two other photographers made at football and baseball games and practices to analyze the way male athletes interact with one another physically when not playing their sport. 

Hypothesis Baseball will have more physical and intimate proxemics than football. 

Definitions in Proxemics   Public space: 12-15 feet, distance maintained between a speaker and an audience Social space: 4-10 feet, communication among business associates and the space between strangers in public areas Personal space: 2-4 feet, used among friends and family, space between people waiting in lines Intimate space: 0-1 foot, high probability of touching, reserved for whispering and embracing

Football game. Photo by Tim Tai.

Analysis and more images under the cut. 

Analysis The images I’ve compiled show male athletes in each others’ personal space, and many are examples of male athletes in each others’ intimate space, touching in some manner. Based on the definitions given, this indicates familiarity between the players. They know one another well enough to get extremely close, into spaces reserved for intimate gestures and family. Even when in groups, these men are shoulder-to-shoulder with one another, looking for all the world like a show of solidarity. 

Baseball game. Photo by me.

The levels of touch range from simple hand touches and fist bumps to full-on hugs and even lifting players into the air. Some of the images I have are from practice, and others are from games. 

Baseball practice. Photo by me.

The images I have from baseball practice show two teammates playing around, one locked in a bear hug from the other. This could be typical behaviour—goofing off and playing with one another—or it could have been a one-time instance. More observation or visual data is needed. However, this still indicates a high level of familiarity between the players. Images from games show a mix of hand touches in personal space to hugs and helmet pats in intimate space. Some of the players have special dances or handshakes that they do for celebrations, much like the jumping body-slams that football players do. In the dugout, players stand shoulder-to-shoulder with one another, in each other’s personal space, if not touching and in intimate space. More often, however, they are doing hand gestures or hand-related touching, which involves less intimate space and stays more in personal space.

Baseball game. Photo by Tim Nwachukwu.

Football practice. Photo by me.

During practice, the football players seem to stick to hand touches in personal space—full-body contact does not happen outside of gameplay during practice. However, thanks to Tim Tai’s contribution, I have images of players during games, which show hugs, jumping body-slams, and lifting other players into the air, or otherwise entering the players’ intimate space. Even before games, the players sit with their arms around each other’s shoulders, in intimate space. There is also the helmet grabbing, which appears in both practice and games and seems to be a form of encouragement or a way to get a player’s attention. From this set of images, one would conclude that players have increased physical contact during games, most likely in the context of celebration.

Football game. Photo by Tim Tai.

Footaball game. Photo by Tim Tai. 

Rejecting my initial hypothesis, football players seem to have a higher rate of physical touch and a higher likelihood of being in intimate space than baseball players, especially during games. This conclusion could be because of the limited number of images I have for baseball, and the almost-double amount of images I have for football. I don’t have the expertise to draw other conclusions from this set of images, such as what kind of physical touch indicates how the players feel about each other and other teams or about the individual players’ behaviour and intentions.

Again, this is from a novice’s point of view, and I could be totally wrong in my conclusions. Mostly, this was an attempt to use images to do visual research, and in that respect, I think I have succeeded. 

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the paper I intended to write vs. the paper I’m actually writing

Alright, so originally, I had intended to write a paper about how visual anthropology works and how it has affected indigenous populations, and how they have utilized visuals themselves. 

However. 

While this topic is extremely interesting and something I would love to know more about, I don’t feel qualified to talk about it in a long-ish paper for my final independent study assignment. I’ve barely even scratched the surface on how to do visual anthropology and what it means, much less learned how people have utilized it and how it affects populations I know nothing about. 

I had to teach myself everything I know about visual anthropology. I’ve reached out for resources and tried to read books and do exercises, but the way I learn is more conducive to hands-on training and guidance. If I don’t have someone to tell me how things should be or how I need to go about something, I can’t know for sure if what I’m doing is even right. 

In short, I need a Jedi master. The Yoda to my Luke. 

I’ve reached out to a mentor from the Society for Visual Anthropologists and I plan on talking to her more about masters programs in vis anth and what might be a good fit for me. I’m trained as both a journalist and an anthropologist. There’s gotta be a place I can use these skills to do what I want. 

I realized very quickly that my paper is going to have to be about the things I think I understand according to the books I’m using. It may also have to be about the parts of vis anth that I’m particularly interested in. And this is all because I feel like I don’t know enough—this is the beginning of my journey. 

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Lessons!

I’ve learned a lot of things from starting this independent study, but I think the most important thing I’ve learned has been the importance of archiving. 

If I had all of my images archived, I would be able to pull more from my outtakes to find more examples of the kinds of behaviour I’m looking at. 

Additionally, thanks to other photographers and their archiving, I have more examples to pull from. 

Basically, archiving is the best thing you can do for Future You and every photographer and visual anthropologist should do it. 

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Photography doing what it does best: looking at stuff

The Prompt: 

“Use the camera to explore how people are reflected in the material/spatial character of their homes.” 

This exercise comes from the vis anth textbook, “Viewpoints,” by Mary Strong and Leana Wilder. 

The chapter discussed the uses of photography and videography in ethnographic fieldwork, citing the pros of having visual aids while researching different aspects of culture. 

Here, I’ve used my own home as my “field.” 

Analysis and more images below the cut!

I decided to focus on the lower floor since it is a communal space where all of the house’s inhabitants spend time. 

There are wall hangings, strung-up Christmas lights, a cardboard cutout of actor David Tennant, and secondhand furniture, including a denim-covered couch and a yard-sale coffee table. 

Secondhand furniture indicates thrifty-ness and a willingness to compromise on the age and quality of items to save money.

The couch is the main attraction, situated in the middle of the room. This picture shows a jacket draped over the back cushions, where someone probably abandoned it after coming in. It faces the TV, not pictured here, which is mounted to the wall above a chest of drawers. The couch is also home to several afghan blankets, visible behind the jacket. This is the “gathering place,” so to speak. It’s clear people spend time here. 

There are plants on a plastic chest of drawers, evidence that some of the house’s inhabitants have a green thumb. 

The wall hangings are wall scrolls, depicting characters from Japanese pop culture, indicating common interests between the inhabitants, since this is a common area. In America, this form of media is considered “childish,” and is therefore usually consumed by younger people, usually young adults and teens. 

Behind the pants is a picture of two of the inhabitants, from their time abroad in Thailand. They have the means to travel, but the furniture in the house is older and worn. 

Between the image, the furniture, and the wall decorations (and also the picture), it becomes clear that these inhabitants are young adults, probably college students who have inherited furniture and are still supported by their parents—ergo, able to go abroad for short periods. 

The kitchen is just behind the couch, where there is less decoration, but the fridge is full of notes and magnets. We can see the reappearance of anime on the magnets and the use of the word “kage” on the dry erase boards to the left. 

Several of the magnets come from university-sponsored events, so it’s safe to say that the inhabitants are college students. 

Detail of the fridge. A shuttle schedule is most prominent, adding to the evidence that the inhabitants are college students. 

Bowls and jars of this nature are spread around the living room and kitchen, and there is a fish tank near the front door. 

One or several of the inhabitants has a soft spot for plants and aquascapes, and they’re most likely the same ones who tend to the plants. 

In conclusion, this house (my house, so I know the logic is sound) is comprised of several college students who are of a middle-class socioeconomic bracket and share interests in Asian pop culture and media. 

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Passions, Projects, and Problems

So my true passion in life is anthropology. 

It’s my other degree in college, aside from journalism, and I have way more fun learning about it than I do learning about journalism on any given day. 

Several months ago—maybe several years ago at this point, who knows—I discovered Visual Anthropology. A perfect mash-up of my two favorite things: photography and studying culture. It’s like this field was made for me. 

My university doesn’t offer any courses in this field, unfortunately, so what’s an ambitious kid like me to do?

Make my own class, of course. 

I’ve been studying visual anthropology on my own for about three months now. It’s slow-going, especially with my other classes and jobs, but I have had so much fun learning how to be a visual anthropologist. 

For my independent study—which is through the School of Journalism, by the way—I’ve been teaching myself what vis anth is and how to do it, and for my final project, I have a photo series and a paper due. If you made it this far and are still interested, here’s what I’m doing!

Photo Project: 

Topic

For my photo series, I’m looking at the way men in college sports physically interact with each other outside of gameplay. That is, during breaks, on the sidelines, in dugouts and on benches, wherever and whenever they aren’t playing, i.e., actually participating in physical action that pertains to the game itself. I'm going to use photos to find how these men interact with each other and research a bit of the literature done on this topic already. 

I’ve dug through my archives from my time as a staffer for the Columbia Missourian to find some images I can work with without having to shoot more, since I don’t have media credentials at the moment. 

©Shelby Baseler 2015

Criticisms

These images are limited in their scope and situation, and I only have images from three sports, and one of those has only one usable photo. (This is probably a bias of sorts; I’m using my own discretion to decide which photos are acceptable and which aren’t based on assumptions about the situations in which they were taken, so I’m probably shaping the data in some way anyway, but I digress.)

Due to the limits of my qualitative data, I can’t really draw any solid conclusions. 

I figure this is okay only because I have no plans to publish this anywhere but here and on my website, but I’m at least admitting that my data points are flawed. 

I would also use other sports photos, but for the purposes of this project, I’m going to stick with my own pictures, since I know where/how/when they were taken and that they are not toned or doctored in any way. 

I’ll put my paper description in another post! It’s too much for this one already. 

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Florida aesthetic https://instagram.com/p/BDg4alnPxuR/

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Good morning, Spring is here

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Some sky from the last dregs of winter.

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I've been at Pictures of the Year all week and it has been one of the coolest experiences to work with the news judges. I'm sad to see them go. This weekend the sports judges come in and I get to start the process all over again!

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First Mizzou Game EVER???

I’ve never been to a Mizzou football game in my four years as an undergrad. There, I said it. 

Today is the day that changes. 

Today is the last home game of my senior year as an undergraduate student at Mizzou, and I’m finally going to see Mizzou football. 

Here goes nothin’.

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In my History of Photojournalism class, we talk primarily about American and English-speaking photographers. I appreciate all their contributions but, c'mon, can we get a little cross section of Photojournalism worldwide?? Where's Tsuneko Sasamoto of Japan, or the Afghan photographers from the film Frame-by-Frame? I need a year-long course for this.

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PHOTO: NEWSHA TAVAKOLIAN—MAGNUM FOR TIME

See Iran Coming Out of the Shadows

Photographer Newsha Tavakolian takes us through the looking glass