as small as a world and as large as alone

6:10pm August 21, 2014

lichgem:

madeofpatterns:

youneedacat:

STAFF AND CLIENT

That has always been my title for this photograph, and it’s the only reason I have kept the photograph for so long over the years.  I don’t even remember who she was.  I just remember she was a staff person in an afterschool program I went to, for kids who were in the system.  And that this photo is the perfect embodiment of the difference between staff and clients — in power, in body language, in facial expression, in everything.

I swear I’ve seen dozens of photos like this.  With staff smiling radiantly at the camera, trying to look happy and pleasing and helpful.  And the client just kind of sitting there maybe trying to look at the camera but not a whole lot else.

I don’t know how many of you know the body language differences I’m describing here.  I don’t know how many of you can pick up on the social dynamic I’m trying to describe.  But I’m hoping that some people will, because this is one of those things I’ve seen over and over — I’ve seen entire walls at agencies plastered with this kind of picture — but I’ve never seen anyone say “Hey this is kind of weird” or “Don’t you find that a bit unsettling?”

I’m the “client” in this picture, if that’s not obvious.  The one with the long dark hair and the light brown dress.  The staff person has impossibly light blonde hair and a white shirt.

I really, really hope other people can see what I see in this picture, because so often I get blank looks when I try to show people offline what I mean.  Then again most of the people I show offline are staff…

I wish staff wouldn’t do this, in pictures, but I don’t know how to tell them what they should be doing.  Other than not putting on an artificially cheery facade that says “look how well I take care of these people” without ever saying it.

I think it’s partly how… it’s a picture of the staff member showing a picture of ~their kid~.

It’s not a picture of the person with a disability, and it’s not a picture of the staff member. It’s a picture of showing. But that’s only part of it.

To me it’s the contrast that stands out, like you said, Mel: how the staff person is trying to seem radiantly happy, while their client is just sort of… present. The staff person isn’t in tune with whatever’s going on with you, and you don’t look like you wanted to take a picture. It was a bit subtle for me at first, though, until I sat and looked at it for a few seconds.

Edit: I realize ‘in tune’ has different connotations than I was going for. I mean more that she’s oblivious or doesn’t care.

Yeah it’s a really weird thing and I see it all the time.  It’s even more obvious when you go into a case manager’s office and you see an entire wall full of photos like that tacked up on a bulletin board or something, all looking exactly the same.

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