Sheds light on how toxicity is often pushed out of the view, so that the public/society/etc. are not able to truly gauge the pervasiveness of toxic environments. The image captures the invisible nature of toxicity, rendering it a truly insidious social problem - one that we often are unable to see.
The image’s subject is the hidden freeways. The environment appears clean, with the blue skies and freeway overpass, but underneath hundreds of cars are travelling through, slowly emitting toxic fumes to those above.
The image is certainly ethnographic in that it attempts to get at the impact of these freeways on the community and society surrounding it. The author can expand more on the juxtaposition of the “clean lines and painted surface” with what is actually happening below. The detail in the design statement that the freeway cuts off north-south traffic might be moved to the critical essay section, b/c the overwhelming first impression of this photo (to my/Rachel's mind) is that of a penitentiary fence. It says 'keep out.'
Hidden toxicity.
At first glance, I noticed how clean the image is. It is clear, with a bright blue background. I was impressed by how clean it is. The critical commentary draws focus to the "trash" on the clean surface and to glimpses of the freeway underneath; however, even the trash (the tin can) is shiny and it's hard to see past the cleanness of the image.
Landscape
I understand that the point of the photo is to show how the freeway is hidden. But it would have been interesting to have a side-by-side of this photo and what is directly below - to truly juxtapose the two concurrent landscapes.
The overpass scholarship I know best is an old article by Neferti Tadiar on "flyovers" in Manila. Unlike that article, this critical framing appears to emphasize that despite the freeway structure being designed for cars and trucks, the neighborhoods through which the 210 freeway cuts through are peopled with flaneurs, so to speak (walkers of dogs, etc.)
This image complicates toxicity on multiple levels that are often overlooked. First, the physical and actual toxicity of trash is present and makes me wonder, what about this setting has been intentionally and stretegically made to be be prone to trash and what message does this send to those living in this neighbrhood? Has the city actually invested in providing spaces for individuals to throw their trash? This latter question can lead to conversations about toxicity from individuals and citiy officials.
Particularly interesting is locating what Ariel calls the "intimate ways freeways normalize specific daily activity." While not factoring prominently in any spectacular form, the can of "Steel Reserve" appears to be suspended in time over the constant motion below. The can may initially be seen as a discarded piece of trash, revealing an environmental toxicity (trash) juxtaposed against another environmental toxicity (pollution, land expropriation). But, the can may also reveal something less spectacular and more intimate. It may be an artifact of suspended time; of leisurely time perhaps.
