Documentary photography as visual research creates a deeper understanding of an individual's identity by capturing decisive moments that highlight distinctive characteristics that make people unique. Individuals do not always communicate all parts of their identity, such as their religion, class, family status, and profession, but with a camera those aspects of identity can be captured. This visual narrative presents the identity of a nontraditional female African American student enrolled at a Midwestern university guided by the interpretation of the theoretical structure of Hecht's Communication Theory of Identity. The intersectionality of the personal, enacted, relational, and communal frames of identity were visually explored through the method of documentary photography captured over an academic year.

中文翻译：

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描绘身份：非传统女性学生的视觉叙事

纪实摄影作为视觉研究，通过捕捉决定性的时刻，突出使人们独一无二的独特特征，可以更深入地了解个人的身份。个人并不总是传达他们身份的所有部分，例如他们的宗教、阶级、家庭状况和职业，但使用相机可以捕捉到身份的这些方面。这种视觉叙事呈现了一名在中西部大学就读的非传统女性非洲裔美国学生的身份，其指导是对赫克特身份传播理论的理论结构的解释。通过一学年拍摄的纪实摄影方法，对个人、制定、关系和公共身份框架的交叉性进行了视觉探索。