\u201cWhat is it you research here?\u201d The German guy in the backseat asked in broken English as we drove out of Frans Josef and towards Fox Glacier on the West Coast of New Zealand. His name was David (pronounced Dah-veed) and the first of many hitchhikers to ask me about my research.<\/p>\n
Initial conversation with hitchhikers usually goes something like this:<\/p>\n
–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A brief discussion of whether or not I\u2019m heading somewhere helpful to them<\/p>\n
–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A lot of shuffling around and asking \u201cthink you\u2019ll fit?\u201d as we move bags from the backseat to the trunk<\/p>\n
–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 An exchange of where we are each from<\/p>\n
–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 An exchange of our names<\/p>\n
–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A gift of chocolate from the glove compartment<\/p>\n
–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 An exchange of how long we\u2019re in New Zealand<\/p>\n
–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 An exchange of what brought us each to New Zealand<\/p>\n
–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And natural conversation tends to flow from there<\/p>\n
It\u2019s in the exchange of what brought us to New Zealand that I get asked about my research. I told David, like I told the rest of the hitchhikers, that I was in New Zealand to research wool and fabric production. Everyone has been interested and wants me to tell them more, so I dive into the story:<\/p>\n
\u201cWell,\u201d I say, \u201cit all came from this realization that people (myself included) are very disconnected from the processes behind the objects we are so attached to. My goal is to illuminate one of these processes- the process behind wool fabric and clothing.\u201d<\/p>\n
I go on\u2026<\/p>\n
There are so many components (human, animal, and machine) that play a role in the making of fabric that are hidden in the final product. When we see a wool blanket, we see a wool blanket- we don\u2019t see sheep and farmers, shearers and mills, dyeing and spinning, weaving and knitting, artisans and machines- just a wool blanket. This concept of mistaking a part for a whole is termed the \u201cfallacy of misplaced concreteness\u201d by philosopher Alfred North Whitehead. He\u2019s a big guy in the pre-research part of my research.<\/p>\n
I want to illuminate the forgotten process in a way that people are interested in learning about it. While\u00a0I\u00a0<\/i>might be thrilled to curl up with a whole novel about fabric production, I know I\u2019m among the few. People have no reason to want to sit down and read a research paper about where fabric comes from. As a photographer, I think a much better and more accessible way to bring this process to light is to really\u00a0show<\/i>\u00a0it through a series of photos. People need to\u00a0see<\/i>\u00a0the process from farm to function.<\/p>\n
I often compare the idea with the \u201cFarm to Table\u201d movement sweeping over the U.S.- people are getting more and more concerned with knowing where their food comes from and how it was raised, so why not get more concerned with where our clothing comes from and how it was made?<\/p>\n
This whole idea sparked my interest several months ago during my second block class, Reenchanting the World. Side note: if you are a student and ever have a chance to take that class- please just do it. Before I could illuminate this process for others, I felt as though I needed to go through the whole process myself. I had the opportunity to do that for my final project for that class and made this short film:<\/p>\n