The Visual Imperative

Introduction

When I was in college, I used to draw a distinction between where I was “from” and where I was “originally” from. I suppose it was a matter of semantics really—and looking back I doubt anyone actually ever cared what my answer was when they asked the question. Nevertheless, it was important to me to make the distinction between the place I had chosen to call home and the one my parents had, and I would give answers like “well, I’m from the Northwest, though my family is from the South” or “I live here, but I’m originally from Texas.” Like I said: semantics. But, it was important to me, and seemed—at the time—a critical difference in the way in which I qualified my residential timeline. After all, I’d spent most of my formative years ...