My own personal experiences in the mill give me a different perspective when watching this video. I see the personal side of the mill closings, the lives that were forever touched and changed. When I started working at the mill I was looking for a good income that would help me provide for my family, the mill did that for not only me, but for thousands of others just like me. Providing for your family gave you a certain pride, and it earned you a certain respect from your peers. When the mills were shutdown we lost our income, and in a lot of cases our pride and respect as well.
Experience plays a major role when looking at representations.
It not only helps you to see what is there, but also to see what is not there, what is missing from the image. In Mark Hanley s video the typical viewer does not see any people, but I see the video full of names and faces of days gone by. To further illustrate my point of perspective in analyzing representations I would like to refer to a photograph that was taken by Michael Williamson in the book Journey to Nowhere authored by Dale Maharidge. The photo is of Ken Platt Sr. With the blast furnace in the background and Ken Sr. and Ken Jr. in the foreground the viewer can get a sense of what pride and accomplishment Ken must have felt at one time.