We read an article about Stephanie Sinclair who worked for months to gain access into various polygamous towns in order to photograph their lives. A lot of her photos look like she was just a fly on the wall taking pictures, while others (the group shot) was posed.
Her role as a researcher was more observationalist (considering she was not participating). She had to get permission from Warren Jeffs himself and from various leaders in the communities in order to get in, and then it took even longer for her to actually be able to photograph what went on inside.
It took her months to gain access, and her hard work paid off, she was able to take and share pictures that no one else has been able to get before. Doing so was a lot of work, especially due to the fact that she went in right after the raid at Yearning for Zion. She had to make sure that the people knew that her intentions were not to incriminate or investigate, but simply share their lives with others so they can better understand too.
This makes me think of my research in Tonga, because I have to gain trust in the people before they will share their lives with me. This may take a while, but hopefully not months because I only have 3 in the field!
I really enjoyed the NPR story and feel like us as Field Studies students need to be able to enter a group like Sinclair, only on overdrive. With only three months in the field we will need to be able to work quickly and with purpose or we might see our summer be gone before we know it. Good luck!
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