If I ask you a question: “please describe the first impression in your mind when I say the word ‘laboratory’ and the word ‘scientists,’ what would it looks like?” Last week, I asked over 50 students, professors, and university faculties this question. Nearly all of them would describe an image of a person wearing a white coat, standing in a room with different test tubes. To be honest, I know that they would have similar answers. The images in their minds are the typical impressions given by popular artworks, like novels, movies, and even video games. However, when I asked my interview targets about their first impression when I said the word “geoscience laboratory” and “geoscientists,” the answers were unexpected. Except for two geoscience students, others’ answers describe an image of a man hammering different rocks in a small dark room.
This result shocked me. As a multidisciplinary student, environmental studies is one of my studying areas. I know that what my interview targets are describing a stereotype instead of a fact. Since most people do not really understand what geoscientists are doing every day and how geoscience works. My project will concentrate on geoscience and geoscientists.
The plan for this project is that I am going to use photography techniques to make a series of 20 documentary pictures about geoscientists’ daily works. These photos would include research, field works, and landscapes.