Combining Two Disciplines The Perspective of an Anthropologist-photographer and Reflections on the Photo camera as a Tool for Mediation (original) (raw)

Abstract

While photography has a long history of being used by anthropologists, not much has been written of the use of anthropology by photographers. Based on my personal experiences of two distinct ethnographic fieldworks, I argue that these two practices, photography and anthropology, overlap in several ways and one can combine the skills, techniques, knowledge, insights, and objectives from the two disciplines. Throughout my master’s and PhD research I was constantly navigating back and forth between my anthropological and photography skills, which led to a blurring of the boundaries between the two. Both practices fed into each other and my anthropological work gained advantage from my photography. Specifically, anthropology can benefit from the art of photography in a way that expands and deepens meanings and ways of looking. In this article, I will provide examples of how I combined these skills and will present my argument in three steps: firstly, I will focus on mediation; how looking through the medium of a camera affects what and how we see. Secondly, following the idea of “the affective lens” developed by Brent Luvaas (2017), I will delve into how photography helped me bridge distance in the field and facilitated an easier engagement with research participants. Finally, I will spend some time explaining the state of “heightened awareness” presented by David MacDougall (2006) and will expand on it by drawing on Jean Rouch’s concept of ciné-transe (Rouch 1978). I will also refer to the concept of kinok by Dziga Vertov as a useful metaphor for understanding the relationship between the camera and the body.

Figures (13)

The view through a viewfinder (on the left) and through the camera’s monitor (on the right). The camera | used in the field, the NIKON D5100 had an option which enabled using the monitor instead of the viewfinder to compose photos. The addition of using the camera’s monitor are the lines, which help with composition. Below each of the images there are numbers which correspond to the camera's manually adjustable features, which are, from the left: the shutter speed (here set as 1/15), the aperture (F4 and F4.2) and the ISO (1600).

Fig 2. Blocks of flats in the Lower Wrzeszcz district of Gdansk.

Photos by Aleksandra Gracjasz.

\ tight frame allows for focusing on details such as mud and the irregularities of the vegetables, as vell as their colors and price tags. Slime Bae Ala lenmnnAen OKA RAR Fig. 3 A collection of close-up images from the food market.

This is a collection of different Santeria altars | was presented by practitioners. The last photo shows one of the women pointing out a specific figure of a saint for me to have a closer look and photograph it.

and take pictures of the surrounding area. I would talk to people and ask if I could take a picture of them and their stand. They would sometimes think I was an official of some sort, or that I work for the management of the market. Then, when the picture was taken, when this first barrier was broken, we would start talking about their products, their day at the market and eventually we would establish a meaningful connection (see Fig. 5). their day at the market and eventually we would establish a meaningful connection

Me taking pictures at the Women's March in Gdynia, March 2019. Photo by Marek Rycko. Fig. 6 Me taking pictures

Fig. 7 Mini Folding Lightbox

A set of pictures which | took for the Cooperative Eko-Box. From left to right: a jar of pickled raspberries, red onions, and dried wild mushrooms. These pictures were taken in a mini photo-box with LED lights, with my NIKON D5100 with an adjustable 18-70mm lens and later edited in Adobe Lightroom to make them even more fitting for the cooperative’s website. Dhntne hy Alabaandra Craninces

Me at a music festival in Taucha, Germany, squatting to take a picture from a desired perspective. Photo by Kai Eisentraut (https://www.frontal-light.com/)

Me at a music festival in Taucha, Germany, squatting to take a picture from a desired perspective Photo by Kai Eisentraut.

Picture taken at Bazar Natury, an ecological food market in Wrzeszcz, Gdansk. from the perspective of the counter. To take this picture, | rested the camera on my body, at the height of my belly. This time | was not looking through the viewfinder but trusted my knowledge and took the risk. The person in the picture was later informed about the photo and gave her consent. Fig. 11 Picture taken at Bazar Natury

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References (10)

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