Abstract

Examination of Evans-Pritchard's photographic record of the Nuer rite of gorot that he witnessed in 1936 raises important questions about the historical relationship between anthropological fieldwork and visual methods, and in particular photography's relationship to both methodological observation and participation within early 20th-century fieldwork practice. This article explores the question of why the photographs are characterized by a sustained engagement with two distinct stages of the rite, but why other aspects of the ceremony are not recorded. In order to explore this question, which was first prompted by a detailed engagement with the entire archive, the article proposes a model of Evans-Pritchard as “participant-photographer”—a model that understands his activity during the rite as being composed of periods of “photographic engagement” interposed with observation and note-taking.

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