The image and text show how toxics are pushed to the peripheries of urban spaces, and in this case how they are tied to a colonial legacy. The image on the left is almost like a reveal shot on a hidden camera show, revealing how the plant is releasing waste into the river.
Caption is great, perhaps more mention of the communities affected (if appropriate)?
Google Earth and ethnographer's own.The image on the right is fairly low quality. Are there better versions? The images themselves don't complement each other too well side by side, but as I say in another comment, I like the style of the image on the left as a hidden camera 'got you' image, which is especially interesting as it came from google maps.
Could it be better quality? Could you make it clear it's google earth - label the buildings? Perhaps show the photo as being more connected to the map somehow?
It talks about the management of toxics and the ways in which they can be peripheralised and also let into the commons. Perhaps mentioning the river as part of the commons would be a good idea here?
This visualization and caption advance ethnographic insight by providing a positional reflection on the process of apprehending places which are marked by toxicity in explicity ways. The caption describes the ethnographic challenge of witnessing the aesthetic impact of when the geology crumbles under the erosion of acid rain from the smelting industry, revealing bold new colors, while at the same time problematizing the practice of toxic tourism.
The caption can be elaborated to include a bit more information about the ways in which the smelting industry in La Oroya has been described in discourses which engage with toxic aesthetics voyeuristically. How does tourism describe the town, and conversely, what language is used by articles which critique the local industry describe the residues visible in the surrounding landscape?
This is an image of the smelting village of La Oroya taken from above on a guided hike through the mountains. Its composition is notable as it reveals the surrounding landscape’s lighter colored geologies in contrast to the darker colours of the town, and where industry has left residue on the surrounding hill walls.
This image is already incredibly striking, however if there is room to extend the image’s crop slightly to include a little more of the surrounding landscape, it could add even more impact to the view of the town.
The visualization and caption say that the visibility of toxic residue can complicate concepts of toxicity, as well as the significance of toxic presence for surrounding life and livlihoods. The material composition of toxic traces can be subsumed by other forms of economization of its aesthetics, such as toxic tourism, or converesly, using the same aesthetic shock to disparage the town.
