About Me
I think, work with, and do photography to challenge the way we see and make sense of the world around us, and to imagine a better, more just, peaceful and joyous world.
My research interests included explorations of the intersection of photography, social justice, humanitarianism, and visual representation of difficult knowledge. I understand photography to be a medium that can ignite imagination of lived experiences, becoming a vehicle for empathy and social change, at the same time it can a be a rhetorical device and tool of propaganda. As I learn about and engage with visual theories and philosophies of photography it has become increasingly apparent to me that the many facets and contradictions of this medium are vital aspects of camera technology, and visuals more broadly, to keep foremost in mind.
Through my own social photography, academic analysis of others' works, and conversations with photographers, humanitarian scholars/professionals, spectators, and those being photographed, my research will contribute to a visual scholarship that is more about engagement than about governance, and that is more responsive, respectful and reflexive than voyeuristic.
As a scholar of humanitarian visual culture, and of the moral and practical dimensions of healthcare in global and humanitarian contexts my focus combines: a) histories of humanitarian sentiments and actions as constituted through photography and (an era’s) new media, and b) global and humanitarian health ethics through empirical and ethnographic research.
Approaching photography as a social phenomenon, I have contributed to scholarship on the role of photography in shaping perceptions of aid, in constituting benevolent action, and in representing those aid aims to benefit. Through original archival research, I have incorporated historical visual material in a broadening of understanding of current (& ongoing) ethical issues in global & humanitarian health, specifically around palliative care and refugee health. My leadership and collaboration in qualitative & ethnographic research on healthcare in global and humanitarian settings has, in turn, informed my analysis of archival visual material and historic practices around the use and creation of images by aid organizations, states, commercial media and individuals.
Over the years, I have worked as a Research Coordinator in various qualitative health services and humanitarian health ethics research projects, was a Postdoctoral Fellow in Humanitarian Health Ethics at McMaster University in Hamilton, ON, am working (recreationally) as a historical interpreter at Whitehern Historic House & Garden in Hamilton, am a photographer and photo-based artist, and a mother of three inspirational children.
A Little More About Me...
After studying Fine Arts at Heritage College CEGEP in Gatineau, Quebec, where I explored various visual arts forms, I went on to complete a Diploma in Photography at Algonquin College in Ottawa, ON. As thorough as the program was, and as wonderful as it may sound that I was there during a transformative period in the history of photography, I ended up with photography skills that were largely obsolete; overtaken by the ‘digital revolution’. My first love was analog photography, but the history of photography is also a history of changing technologies. The invention of digital photography and social networking tools have allowed images to have a wider use and distribution than ever before. My interests in the social, cultural, political, moral and imaginative experiences made possible with photography have kept me focused on this technology since long before I was able to articulate this fact.
About “Single-Lens Reflective”
For those unfamiliar with photographic technology, the SLR in DSLR stands for “single-lens reflex,” the most common type of interchangeable-lens camera being used today. Some fifty-odd years ago, twin-lens reflex cameras were also very common, but fell out of fashion with the advent of the single-lens version, largely because of the ease of use afforded by the newer technology. The addition of the "D" is a more recent prefix referring to the camera being digital rather than analog film.
Despite having a technologically based title, this site is not about photographic technology (though it may figure in some of my interpretations and thoughts). On this site I present my intellectual engagement with photography, and my formal and informal academic developments in visual and media culture.
To be reflexive of one's own biases and influences is an enormously important element in critical qualitative research, particularly when entrusted with the task of making sense of or representing the experiences of research participants, of other scholars and artists, or anyone else for that matter. Interpretations and analysis can easily be confounded by our own contexts. To be able to identify and be aware of these filters makes the research more transparent and accountable. It is about how our thoughts (reflections) interact with that which we are exploring. And while it includes a great amount of reflection (inward thinking) it necessarily includes consideration of our interactions with the outside we are encountering. Thus, I apply 'reflection' in two ways: as my considered intellectualization of the topic at hand, and my sincere attempt at being clear about the contextual elements that reflect and reverberate in my thinking and analysis. I am consciously trying to avoid responses that are uncritical and knee-jerk in their origins and orientation, with an aim of rendering critical approaches as the ultimate reflex.
—
Why ‘reflective’ instead of ‘reflexive’?
As much as there are aspects of research that are intensely solitary, research is never a solo act. So why have I opted for a title alluding to singularity, a single perspective? Essentially, I want to be clear that these writings are my perspectives, not those of the research or art collectives of which I also am a part. The specific research projects that I am involved in have dedicated sites where team commentary and products are presented. I am dedicating this space to my own personal reflections. Reflections, which may include expounding on issues of reflexivity, but ultimately, this is a place for thoughts about events and experiences I face over the course of my educational journey.