Me, Myself and Eye

ONLINE PRESENTATION

Me, Myself and Eye Home   //  Leslie Elsasser - Introduction   //  Selina Roman - Mind Currents   //  Michael Ball   //  TC Bryant   //  Larry Busby   //  David Canaday   //  Michael Congdon   //  Brandie Dziegiel   //  Loretta Fields   //  Jeaniel Image   //  Douglas Eric Jordan   //  Valerie Larson   //  John Leduc   //  Jason Lind   //  Mikko Maki   //  Alex Martinez   //  Matias   //  Noemys McConnell   //  Megan O’Connell   //  Robert Ortega   //  Adaina Plaza   //  Pat Randall   //  Heather Rivera   //  RaeAnne Swanson   //  Michael Webb

 

JASON D. LIND - VETERAN AFFAIRS

Chronicle of a Self-Portrait
Exploring Cultural Identity 

I am not a Veteran. I am an anthropologist who conducts social science research and quality improvement projects at the James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital in Tampa, FL. After working with Veterans and their families for the past 11 years, I have come to realize that art and artistic expression is a powerful tool that can be used to heal, facilitate recovery, and provide a medium for self-exploration. This, and a lifetime interest in photography is what brought me to Breaking Barriers in a dual role: program evaluator and participant. It has been an honor and a privilege to have worked alongside this group of Veteran participants; to have learned from them and to have heard and seen their stories through photography. 

My goal with this set of photographs was to explore the concept of cultural frame switching (first described by W.E.B Du Bois) which addresses the phenomenon of how bicultural individuals can switch between two cultural mindsets or interpretive lenses, in response to cultural or environmental stimuli. Language is a big part of this, as bilinguals can express different personality traits when speaking a different language. I first learned cultural frame switching “skills” during anthropological field work in Latin America and while learning Spanish. I lived in, studied, and integrated into different cultures in Bolivia, Mexico, Costa Rica, and Colombia. Later on, I spent three years living and working in Colombia, doing research and working as a professor at a university. I also spent a lot of time on a small farm, an experience that had a big impact on me. During this whole experience I met my wife and we have since settled here in Tampa. We speak mostly Spanish in the home and we routinely travel back and forth to Colombia to visit. Colombia feels like home to me almost as much as my native Minnesota…two very different cultures that I am somehow able to assimilate and navigate. 

The photos here represent the experiences and memories of the time I spent in and around that small farm in Colombia. In addition, they represent the joy of being able to shape-shift between two worlds, to be able to act out and explore a different part of the self. In these photographs I use symbols like the sombrero vueltiao (a typical Colombian hat), a poncho, a mochila (typical woven bag), and a machete to represent these experiences and memories. The use of my medium format Mamiya c220 camera represents my delight in “simple things” such as manual cameras, aspects of rural life, and being in nature. This self-portrait looking through the camera represents a reflection of myself through the lens of two cultures, memory, time and space. 

JASON D. LIND
VETERAN AFFAIRS

 

 

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For more information:
Email Leslie Elsasser at lelsasse@usf.edu
or Ashley Jablonski at danyele@usf.edu

Breaking Barriers 2020 is supported by the James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital, Love IV Lawrence, Hillsborough Arts Council, and the Florida Department of State.