{"id":5333,"date":"2025-05-01T09:43:05","date_gmt":"2025-05-01T15:43:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.library.ualberta.ca\/ior-2020\/?page_id=5333"},"modified":"2025-09-19T15:42:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-19T21:42:08","slug":"a-moment-that-stayed-with-me","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.library.ualberta.ca\/ior-2020\/a-moment-that-stayed-with-me","title":{"rendered":"A Moment That Stayed With Me"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Submission 2025<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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\"Reflection<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
Submitted by:<\/td>Amber Hussain<\/td><\/tr>
Department:<\/td>Nursing<\/td><\/tr>
Faculty:<\/td>Nursing<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

In the winter of 2024, I traveled to Pakistan, my country of origin, to conduct ethnographic research with adolescent mothers in rural communities. I came prepared to document their stories of early marriage, motherhood, and mental health. But one afternoon, during an interview, a young girl shared something so painful that I quietly stepped outside, tears welling in my eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Qualitative fieldwork often positions the researcher as a neutral observer, tasked with documenting the \u201cother.\u201d But I wasn\u2019t a stranger to this world. I am a Pakistani woman. I am a mother. And as her story unfolded, I felt the line between participant and researcher blur. I was not outside the story; I was part of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That night, sitting with my fieldnotes, I began to write\u2014not just what she said, but how it made me feel. I had come to ask questions, but found myself asking one too: \u201cCan I cry too?\u201d This image gives form to what is often hidden in fieldwork: the emotional labor. Emotion isn\u2019t an obstacle to research. Sometimes, it\u2019s the method itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Was your image created using AI?<\/em>
Yes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Did you upload any materials into an AI tool to help generate your image?<\/em>
No.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which model of generative AI did you use?<\/em>
Microsoft Designer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How was your image created?<\/em>
This image was created using Microsoft Designer Image Creator, an AI-powered digital design tool. I used iterative prompt engineering to guide the platform in generating a high-resolution conceptual image. My initial prompts focused on capturing a macro-level eye with realistic lighting, moisture, and fine skin texture. I refined the reflected scene by integrating rural imagery and maternal figures to visually echo themes from my ethnographic fieldwork. Throughout the process, I adjusted lighting, facial angle, and emotional tone to achieve the right balance between realism and symbolic clarity. No post-processing was done outside of the platform; all refinements were made within the tool itself. The final image was exported in .JPG format at over 300 DPI to meet submission requirements for clarity and print resolution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Did you upload any materials into an AI tool to help generate your image?<\/em>
No.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How did you craft your prompt to guide the generative AI in creating your image? Please describe the technique or approach you used to convey your vision to the AI<\/em>.<\/em>
I wanted to convey the emotional labor of fieldwork through a visual metaphor: a researcher\u2019s tear-filled eye reflecting the lives of her participants. Inspired by my time in rural Pakistan, I described a woman in a dupatta holding a child, an image I had personally witnessed. I chose AI as a medium to visually translate what words alone couldn\u2019t fully express. My prompt included: \u201crealistic human eye with visible tear,\u201d \u201creflected image of rural woman and child,\u201d \u201csunset lighting,\u201d \u201cphotorealistic,\u201d \u201csoft focus,\u201d and \u201cnatural lighting.\u201d I aimed to evoke empathy and blurred boundaries between observer and observed. I ran over a dozen generations, adjusting clarity in the tear, lighting, and emotional tone. I refined the facial structure and reflection details to ensure cultural accuracy and realism. I also used aspect ratio controls to balance metaphor and context. Each iteration brought me closer to the emotional depth I sought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where is the image located?<\/em>
This image is a digital conceptual creation that emerged from my ethnographic fieldwork with adolescent mothers in rural Pakistan.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Submission 2025 Submitted by: Amber Hussain Department: Nursing Faculty: Nursing In the winter of 2024, I traveled to Pakistan, my country of origin, to conduct ethnographic research with adolescent mothers in rural communities. I came prepared to document their stories of early marriage, motherhood, and mental health. But one afternoon, during an interview, a young […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":93,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-5333","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.library.ualberta.ca\/ior-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5333","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.library.ualberta.ca\/ior-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.library.ualberta.ca\/ior-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.library.ualberta.ca\/ior-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/93"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.library.ualberta.ca\/ior-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5333"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/sites.library.ualberta.ca\/ior-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5333\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5950,"href":"https:\/\/sites.library.ualberta.ca\/ior-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5333\/revisions\/5950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.library.ualberta.ca\/ior-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}