Visual Anthropology
Visual anthropology studies the visual and material dimensions of culture and uses visual media — photography and film — in anthropological research and representation.
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Scope
It covers ethnographic film and photography, the analysis of visual culture, and the use of images as both data and means of representation.
Core questions
- How can images serve as anthropological data?
- How is culture expressed visually?
- How should ethnographic film represent its subjects?
- What are the ethics of visual representation?
Key concepts
- Ethnographic film
- Photo-elicitation
- Visual culture
- Representation
- Observational cinema
Key theories
- Photographic analysis of culture
- Bateson and Mead pioneered the systematic use of photography to analyse culture and behaviour.
- Photography as method
- Collier systematized the use of photography as a research method in anthropology.
History
Visual anthropology grew from Bateson and Mead's photographic studies and the ethnographic-film tradition (Flaherty, Rouch, Marshall), developing both as method and as a study of visual culture.
Debates
- Observation versus participation in film
- Whether ethnographic film should observe unobtrusively or collaborate with subjects.
Key figures
- Gregory Bateson
- Margaret Mead
- John Collier
Related topics
Seminal works
- bateson-mead-1942
- collier-1967
Frequently asked questions
- What is visual anthropology?
- The subfield concerned with the visual aspects of culture and with using photography and film in ethnographic research and representation.