In the Corner of My Eye. / 골목길

In the Corner of My Eye. / 골목길 : Intimacy from Data

This photographic zine project is a visual exploration into our idealized relationship with the geographical surroundings we call “home” or “neighbourhood.” The project seeks to utilize graphic editorial design cues of the travel guide or real estate brochures which are physical representation of an infographic dataset combined with personal snapshot photographs, resulting in a mix of “cold” observational quality of space and geography of maps with a personal journal like experience. The idea of home is often described in binary to exploration, demographics and foreign attraction, and recalls accounts of personal history and cumulative experience shared in a community as qualitative memories resonant of an intimate sensibility.

Photography as the subject of this exercise is a familiar and accessible way to connect to the users because of its universal and omnipresent quality in our everyday experience. The four categorized foldable pages titled home, hub (crossings), the walk, and ground level curates selection of photographs taken in four trails of colors and divided quadrants of the map illustrated on the front page. As one of the fastest developing areas in BC, Whally (City of Surrey) is both a place of possibilities and uncertainties for its residents; location being a central stop to the university district in the tricity district and home to massive residential building projects (affecting the incline of housing market as well), change is not only perceived visually but also emotionally. This design exercise offered an avenue to translate an objective understanding of maps and statistics to an everyday life experience which takes a voice and subjective authorship, a quality hard datasets often neglect.