Choose three places where you are likely to witness people in their personal bubbles. (Some of the examples we mentioned in class were bus stands, buses, streets, the mall, grocery store, cafe, place of worship, museum, bookstores, park...)
In each of your three places, choose someone to watch, and spend 20 minutes discreetly watching that person. (If that per leaves, switch to another person...) Make notes: where are you? What do you see? What might be in this person's "inward gaze"?
T.K.:
Person #1
I observed a woman in public
while she was shopping in a grocery store. I was in the Trader Joes in Warwick,
RI on a Sunday afternoon. The store was busy, but not crowded and the woman was
shopping alone with a grocery cart. When I first spotted her I saw talking on
her cell phone as she picked items off the shelf and placed them into her cart.
She is wearing large black sweat pants; pink Crocs and a maroon down jacket. Her
hair is up in a ponytail and her sunglasses are on the top of her head. She is
very casually dressed to be out in public. I wonder if she always looks like
this. Would she wear the same clothing if she were going to the mall or work?
She is probably just running a quick errand to pick up groceries for the week.
She came from home and will go right back home after the grocery store. I try
to imagine whom she is talking to on the phone. I usually have a hard time
focusing on shopping and a phone conversation at the same time. When I attempt
this I end up walking aimlessly around the store without actually picking out
items to purchase. She appears to have mastered this trick and she continues to
talk while she shops. Maybe the person on the phone is describing to her the
items to buy? Maybe they are telling her where in the store they are located?
Maybe it’s her aunt who is going on and on about her uncle, so the lady with
the pink shoes is not actually listening, her attention is focused on shopping
and her aunt is the background noise. I quickly snap a few photos with my phone
so I can remember some of the details later. She cracks a smile and then laughs
out loud. She must be engaged in the conversation. She stops walking, hangs up
the phone and places it into her purse that’s located in the child’s seat in
the shopping cart. She picks up a piece of paper that I assume is her grocery
list and a pen. After a quick check of the list she begins walking again.
Searching for the remaining items. She rounds the corner of the aisle and that’s
when I lost her. She somehow quickly disappeared in the store. I search for
her, only to find her checking out at the cash register. It’s time to do my own
shopping. I wonder if Trader Joes carries Velveeta?
Person #2
I observed a
man sitting in a coffee shop while he was working on his laptop computer. The
coffee shop/café is the Coffee Exchange on Wickenden in Providence, RI. The
environment inside the building is slightly hectic, and the coffee house
playlist emitting from the speakers turns the other conversations into one
large ongoing voice. The man is probably in his early thirties and wearing
jeans, a polo shirt and a leather jacket. His hair is loosely combed and he has
a dark beard. On his small round café table is a small IBM computer plugged
into the wall, a large hot beverage and loose papers. He does not refer to the
loose papers, or even drink from his paper cup, instead his attention is
focused on the computer. I can’t see his screen, but I think that he is on some
form of instant messenger. I believe this because he types a few short
sentences, and then pauses. After the pause he starts to read again with his
eyes focused on the lower right corner of the screen. Each passage of text he
reads elicits a different response. Sometimes he smiles and at other times no
response is seen. His face remains blank. Periodically he looks up and glances
over at another couple deep in conversation. I think he looks at them when he
overhears a fragment of their conversation that peaks his interest. Eventually
he does pick up the loose papers and begins to drink his beverage. The papers
appear to be a questionnaire or survey that someone else has already completed
and he is reading the responses. Shit, he caught me looking at him. Our eyes
briefly meet before I drop my head and dive back into my own computer screen.
He goes back to the survey. A different man walks over and stands behind me. I
think he is waiting for a table to open up, but he is blocking my light and
making me nervous. A door opens behind me and I realize that he was just
waiting for the bathroom.
Person #3
I positioned
myself on a wall along North Main Street in Providence, RI to observe the
people walking by. I was able to see people coming down the street as well as
the people moving to and from their cars in the parking lot behind me. Since it
was cold outside, not too many people were out walking but I did notice one
male in his early twenties. He approached from the south, was wearing a
backpack and large blue headphones. His hands were in the pockets of his black
jacket, but at one point he did take out his left hand to wipe his nose, and in
the process revealed a black leather glove. As he traveled north on foot he
kept his head down and his eyes focused on the ground. He looked up only to see
if there were cars approaching as he crossed the street or the entrance to the
parking lot. He looked very cold. As he crossed my position on the wall he
quickly glanced up in my direction. He studied me for one second before
returning his gaze to the ground. He continued walking north in the same
manner. He kept his head down until once again he needed to cross the street.
He pressed the crosswalk button with his leather glove before returning it to
his warmth of the pocket in the jacket. As he waited for the streetlight to
change he kept his head up and observed traffic. The light changed and the walk
signal illuminated. Walking across the street his gaze was once again focused
on the ground until he noticed a car quickly approaching him from the right
hand side. He glanced up, decided the car was not a threat and would stop for
the light. It was safe to continue. With his head down he
continued walking north until he was out of my view.
