Counternarratives

I am going to argue that Megan’s item, ”Rafting in Costa Rica,” (http://mith.umd.edu/arguing/admin/items/show/48)  is not simply about her rafting trip. Megan credits the rafting tour photographer as the creator of the photo, and therefore I see this image as a story about him or her. It is an image of what we can assume to be the daily life of a rafting tour photographer. This is what he or she does. The photo documents the environment in which the photographer works daily. He or she chose to work in Costa Rica and be a part of a rafting company that gives tours to visitors. One this particular day, the weather seems to be cooperative and the water not too rapid nor unruly — but this is just one day in the life of the photographer. He or she has to respond to the conditions of the river and the Costa Rica environment constantly.  Megan and her family are some of the many that this person photographs on a regular basis. The image captures an example of what he or she thinks is a good photo of a group of people rafting in Costa Rica. It reflects the photographer’s person choice of angle and background. The photographer’s story is told through this image.

The second item whose narrative I want to counter is Ed’s item called “Campaigning.” http://mith.umd.edu/arguing/admin/items/show/49  He describes it as a photo of him “helping out on a parade during the Prince George’s County elections.” But what the item really is the shirt Ed is wearing in the photo. It is a bold purple t-shirt with white writing spelling out “Clark for Clerk.”  This shirt tells a whole diiferent story than the one of Ed campaigning. Someone, most likely Clark, a supporter of Clark or a member of Clark’s campaign committee, must have come up with the slogan. Next someone would have had to think to imprint it onto a t-shirt. Then, someone would have had to think of the color. Purple must have some significance in this politician’s campaign. These three element would have to come together in order to create the t-shirt. The last step is Ed and his comrades who decided to receive and wear the shirts. Are they serving their purpose? There was a lot of thought put into the planning of the shirt, and it may have lead to Clark’s election or loss of election. This photo is not simply evidence of Ed’s political endeavors; it is a story about a little purple shirt.

One thought on “Counternarratives

  1. Item 49 Counternarrative

    The main reasoning for making the campaign shirts was to attract potential voters by having a unique color no other campaign had adopted and to advertise a very simple, yet powerful, phrase “Clark For Clerk”. While the choice of color for all campaign shirts is important, the main reasoning behind making the campaign shirts purple was honor Mr. Clark’s daughter Garyn. Garyn’s favorite color is purple and that color has nothing to do with the campaign: It is simply a metaphor for the voice of the unheard. Due to the election season falling in the summer and fall seasons, Garyn was not able to help out because she was working tirelessly. Consequently, the shirt serves dual functions which are to support Garyn because her voice is unheard and adopt a campaign slogan that stands out from our competitors. These dual functions are what lie beneath the picture. The action of Edward wearing the shirt symbolizes his own views on giving a voice to the unheard and being individual in a society that emphasizes competition. Instead of focusing on the shirt as being the focus of the picture, the real focus should be placed on the wearer of the shirt, Edward, because the shirt points towards the evidence of Edward’s political endeavors and thereby tells the same exact story of Edward campaigning.

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