Blog Post: Heather Shaffer

Throughout the semester I’ve been lamenting over the idea of “photographic empowerment.” Does it actually exist? Does putting a camera in someone’s hands change who they are and how they view the world? All of these questions are subject to debate. For my photo project I have been documenting the surrounding area of USC. The USC campus is known for being in, well, not the best neighborhood. However, very few students tend to travel west of Vermont, north of Adams, east of Figueroa or south of Exposition. These streets create what I like to call the “USC bubble.” Therefore, I wanted to venture no more than a mile out of these streets to see what existed, to see what the culture was like around the area. Armed with my camera, I began my project. I call my project “Drive by Shooting” because I never left my car for any photo and had a friend drive me around as I documented the area. I was expecting to see a poverty stricken area, which to at some point I did, however, I was not expecting to see such a vibrant culture. Truly, I felt as if I had traveled to another country. There were women and men with carts filled with fruits or deserts or other home made goods. Most people were sitting on their porches conversing with one another. Some homes would have a single person sitting in the front alone just taking in the day. There were laundry lines everywhere with whites and colors hanging together coloring the air. Most homes had trash on their yard, or old cars and furniture. Everything was so different than where I am from. Manhattan Beach, while a nice town, is not a city in which you sit on your porch in the afternoon and mingle with the neighbors. Truly, I wish it was! I felt as if the outside area had such a strong sense of community. They weren’t simply neighbors, they were friends.
Simply driving around for a couple of hours truly changed by views on the area. Yes, it no doubt is not the best neighborhood, however, I truly believe we could learn something from the way everyone lives. In conclusion, I do believe there is such a thing as photographic empowerment. I think that this project opened my eyes and made me look deeper into the area. It makes me wonder what it would be like if an assignment like this was required of every student. Could it open more people’s eyes to different cultures and heighten their understanding of other people? I think its possible.

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