Images of culture in visual ethnography

Naško, Križnar

Glasnik Etnografskog instituta SANU

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http://www.doiserbia.nb.rs/Article.aspx?ID=0350-08610902131K

2009-2020/03/08/16:40:25

Visual ethnography is a kind of ethnographic filming which aim is to gather visual information and to help analyzing the data in the process of a research. It can help also to enhance communication between researcher and his subjects in the field or between researcher and the audience. Because of the prevailing use of a camera visual ethnography is called also camera-ethnography. This field of anthropological activity is raising different questions. The basis of visual literacy in this case is a general cinematographic language. First question is: how much knowledge does a researcher need to have if he or she is using a camera in the field? What is the difference between TV production of documentary and the production of visual ethnography? How to construct a visual narrative to keep a relevant information about the culture in question and how to avoid the stress on emotional experience and dramatic suspense, characteristic for artistic or commercial filmmaking? New visual technology is opening many new possibilities in approaching people. How close can we go in approaching people not to step over the thin line of unethical behavior?.

field-work methods, intergenerational relations, visual anthropology