Some Institutions Just Wish to Remain Faceless

 As the Maysles brothers, Wiseman and MacDougall I also chose an institution to observe, however certain institutions just refuse to be observed. It appears that more and more as GDPR regulations set foot in Hungary. Anthropologists are always suspicious with their constant questioning and their weird curiosity - an anthropologist with a camera is even more suspicious. Blood donation is a well-documented subject in anthropology, especially from the point of view of donor attitudes, identity formation and institutional practices. Its variation, plasma donation (in which only the protein rich, water-based plasma is collected, the blood cells are given back to the donor) is less explored. Blood donation usually works as a state-organized practice everywhere and plasma collection in many countries is a commercial activity. As such, they are different in their institutional setup. 

Neither of them is very fascinating as a visual subject. Both are very repetitive, almost ritualized. Phlebotomists (professionals who draw blood) perform the same repeated actions of inserting the needles and operating the plasmapheresis machines (in the case of plasma donation) that automatically governs the process. Even though ritualization can make for a nice subject for visual anthropology - since it is easy to capture and reproduce for film and photo - some rites just refuse to be captured. This refusal or rather reluctance happened when I asked to permission to take photos during my own plasmapheresis at my usual plasma center.

I was through the familiarization process already, we can say I am quite a regular and now respected member of the community I am studying. Since it is possible to give plasma every week since it is replaced faster than whole blood, donors soon can build quite close and trusting relationships with the staff of the plasma center. Becoming a plasma donor involves several steps of initiation: first-time donors are treated with more care and attention to avoid fainting or dizziness. Assistants keep buzzing around them, repeatedly ask about their general feeling. As a donor comes more and more, their reputation grows: other donors gasp with fascination as they hear the number of donations, assistants are more open to chat during the donation process. A regular donor is a valued asset of the center: they generate regular income and the quality of their stuff is checked often so the risk of potential diseases is eliminated. They are reliable.

In order to win the support of the assistants for the photo shoot, I attempted to use my status as a regular donor (by that time I donated 13 times already). The center does not allow for donors to take photos because of certain GDPR regulations - the bottles in which plasma liquid is collected contain a barcode, donor number and name that count as sensitive information, other donors or assistants cannot be in the picture due to privacy and personality rights issues. The assistants advised me to reach out to the manager of the plasma center and ask her permission - just to document my own donation. It turned out that photographing parts of the plasmapheresis machine (the bottle with my own liquid, canules etc.), and the hands of the assistants require special permit from the headquarters. Even if I consent to my own photographing to make things easier. 

Eventually I was allowed to take photos of my own donation. The assistants were eager to help me, one of them (who is generally interested in photographing) captured me while being connected to the machine. It is impossible to take pictures of myself, so she enthusiastically agreed to photograph me - it was a nice instant of collaborative photo art. When I was documenting the last moments of my donation (removing the needle, patching up, putting on bandages) another assistant put a rubber band on my arm to put pressure on the little hole where the needle was, so I can use both of my hands to take photos. She thoughtfully stopped mid-motion while handling the plasma bottle and throwing out used parts of the equipment so I can capture the work phase. It was interesting to experience how I do not have rights to the likeness of my own tissues (the plasma that just left my body minutes ago), I could not photograph the bottle in a way that showed the vignette that showed my name and donor number (so I do not violate my own privacy rights). It turned out that I would also have to sign a consent form the next time I go to because the assistant took a photo of me - with my explicit permission (and request). Some institutions just refuse to be captured.