12/14/2025
“Our love for this book, in part, comes from the fact that O’Neill has found a way to present the process of social scientific observation in an effective and aesthetically pleasing way. Put differently, A Desert Transect’s design allows readers to see the steps of (visual) social science: observation à interpretation à transcription/note taking à analysis à production of social theory. As opposed to a standard academic essay, readers will find photographs and handwritten jottings – short, descriptive notes from the field about what the social scientist is observing, feeling, or interpreting in a given moment – that ultimately result in the typical long form essay and analysis that O’Neill also provides.” Review by: Sebastian Boute, Matt Schneider
“A Desert Transect” is the second installment in O’Neill’s visual ethnographic Transects series, examining nation of the intersections between social dynamics, urban life, and nature. This project is augmented by a sonic album, a music video created in collaboration with composer Wyoming Toad, and an extended dialogue and contextual essay. “A Desert Transect” offers an alternative approach to conducting and presenting social and visual research.
