https://elputnam.github.io/TechnoVernacular/
I recall this moment when we were passing a group of folks repairing a cart. My dad took a number of well composed images of this scene, but my image is a hip shot I tried to shoot inconspicuously. Despite my efforts at being unobstrusive, the man standing to the side catches the gaze of my camera. Technically speaking, I managed to create the shuffling grid within the code (with soem help from a Dan Shiffman/Coding Train Tutorial. The title is a reference to Nettrice Gaskins’s concept of techno-vernacular creativity, or the often overlooked creative practices of technological innovation practiced by ethnic groups, such as the people of Cuba in this instance. It was something that I witnessed a great deal of in Havana, as the embargo and legislation meant limited access to many resources. I did not capture as many images of it as I wish I have, in large part for my desire to not intrude as a tourist-outsider, but going through this work I am questioning the presumptions I made of such boundaries.
