Key research themes
1. How is the ethnographic gaze conceptualized and operationalized in visual anthropology, particularly regarding its theoretical underpinnings and relationship with photography?
This research theme investigates the nature and theoretical framing of the ethnographic gaze within visual anthropology. It explores how anthropologists understand and critique the visual practices involved in fieldwork, including the relationship between the observer and the observed. The focus is on deepening conceptual clarity around visual epistemologies, the body-gaze nexus, and the role of photography as a critical tool in ethnographic knowledge production. This matters because the gaze shapes not only the production but also the interpretation of anthropological knowledge, impacting how cultures and subjects are represented and understood.
2. What are the methodological and ethical challenges encountered when integrating artistic practices and digital media technologies into anthropological film-making and ethnography?
This theme addresses how anthropologists navigate and synthesize their scientific and artistic identities in ethnographic film-making and digital media. It interrogates the conflicts, compromises, and reflexivities involved in producing anthropological knowledge through interactive and multimedia formats. Ethical considerations such as consent, representation, and the power dynamics of the ethnographic encounter in digital contexts are central. This matters because the evolving media landscape transforms both the practice and dissemination of anthropology, demanding critical methodological innovation and ethical vigilance.
3. How do visual anthropology and media anthropology engage with the sociopolitical dimensions of mediated cultural expression, including the circulation of art, social media practices, and media's role in shaping identity and political subjectivities?
This theme explores visual and media anthropology’s focus on the circulation, reception, and political economy of visual art, social media, and mediated publics. It examines how anthropologists analyze the mediated production of cultural and political meaning in contexts such as art worlds, broadcast media, Islamic televisual programming, and social media platforms. Central concerns include the mediation of identity, power relations, and collective affect, as well as anthropology’s role in deciphering the interplay between symbolic forms and social structures.