The collection I looked at for this week’s blog post was the “Guide to the Activities and entertainment at Heart Mountain Relocation Center Photographs”. I had previously learned about Heart Mountain Relocation Centre in my Asian American Studies class, so this collection caught my attention and I was interested to explore further.
This collection features 11 photographic prints of the relocation center itself, as well as people in the relocation center performing various activities, such as dancing, working in the fields, and a folklore performance. From these 11 photos, you could be able to tell historical narratives about the physical appearance of the Heart Mountain Relocation Centre. Additionally, you could also have an idea about the kinds of activities that took place in the relocation center.
However, if you were telling a narrative solely based on the records in this collection, there would be a lot of inference required. This collection only features 11 still photos, and so while it does provide the viewer with a lot of information, it certainly also would miss out on a lot of information. For instance, if there were certain areas in which cameras were not allowed in, there would be no photograph of that area. Additionally, people may have acted differently knowing that they were being photographed, and so the photographs of people performing various activities may not be fully accurate. Furthermore, even if people did not act differently in front of a camera, these photos are only of a certain group of people at a certain time, and so while we can use these photos to talk about some of the experience of being in the Heart Mountain Relocation Center, it is important to remember that these photographs are only through the perspective of one person, and does not encapsulate the whole picture, as everyone’s experience would be different.
In order to address these gaps, interviewing people who were at Heart Mountain Relocation Center may be a good first start. By asking them about these photos, we may be able to learn things that may not have been evident to someone who was simply looking at these photos without any experience of what it was like to be at Heart Mountain. Although once again, these people would only be able to discuss their personal experience and perspective, however some common themes may emerge in interviewees’ experiences, which can help us have a better understanding of what Heart Mountain Relocation center was like.
Hi! I really enjoy how you included why you are interested in exploring this project in the beginning, I also really like how you could think of the idea of interviewing people at Heart Mountain Relocation. This made me realize learning things from a different perspective other than just “professional viewpoint” is very important in digital humanities.
I also selected a collection of photographs, and I liked that you pointed out how photographs are taken from only one perspective. Although my photographs were of landscapes and yours were of people, they both show just one viewpoint, and they prevent other people (or landscapes) from being documented and remembered in the same way. As we know, this silencing occurs throughout history, and to fill in the gaps, more perspectives need to be studied.
your comment about getting a more personal experience story to attach to the photos is so true. i also did a picture collection and it would have been so nice to have been able to hear from someone the people who were featured in the photos on what it was to be there in those moments.