Visual Anthropology: A Systematic Representation of Ethnography

Abstract

In its development of one hundred years, anthropology evolved from travelogues of explorers to in-depth exploration of human from all possible angles. In its every venture, anthropologists were/are always in try to get closer to cultural affairs and dive deeper into human subjectivity. To achieve these purposes a series of theories and methods were developed, which served a lot, but with time it was also felt that readers idea of a research is anchored with and limited within the textual analysis written by the researcher. This dependency on the text was (and still) restricting the researcher to convey an actual image of the studied phenomenon, and also confining the readers from exploring their subjective self in finding meaning. The emergence of using visual aids in anthropology during the 90s opened a pathway for the researcher to make their researched visible to the audience. This visibility opens up many scopes of interpretation that are hitherto invisible. Though, researchers of other disciplines started the use of visual way before anthropologists. But its efficiency in transmitting meaning soon pulled the attention of anthropological social researchers. Since then, visual in anthropology has evolved in its use and presently one of the frontrunning methods in anthropological research. This article is systematically reviewing the history to present of visual anthropology with reference to theoretical development and practical use of the same. Keywords: visual anthropology, photograph, ethnography, movies, photovoice