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If You See What I Mean? Visual Narratives – Stories Told Through, With And By Visual Images

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Narrative Research in Practice

Abstract

Visual field texts, visual methods, and representation of research using visual genres have had a long history and at times a close relationship with narrative research. Visual methods can contribute particular depth to what we can understand from a story and a teller: Visual diaries to tell personal stories; found images and participatory/researcher constructed images act as representations of narratives; photo elicitation can be used to stimulate stories; documentaries capture personal and cultural stories; and, storytelling may be captured visually as a representation and non-representation. Drawing on the work of scholars in visual traditions, including visual narrative and my own visual work, I will illustrate (in visual and textual modes) how the visual may be harnessed in three research spaces: during field text creation, as interim research texts or analysis, and as research texts for dissemination (Clandinin and Connelly 2000). I conclude with some of the issues and challenges for those wanting to employ visual narrative.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    In 2014 the special issue Framing Lives (2014) employed visual life narratives (Chansky 2014), graphic memoirs (Refaie 2014), photo memoirs (Tamboukou 2014) and photographs in memoirs (Cantiello 2014) to “rigorously explore …’framing’ [what is in and not in the picture] as it applies to presenting and displaying lives” (Arthur 2014, p. 2). What this issue makes clear is the key role of visual culture in creating and representing memories.

  2. 2.

    See one opinion piece that includes the film made with Lima http://www.theinertia.com/surf/silvana-lima-says-she-wasnt-pretty-enough-to-sponsor/ as well as a response saying ‘get over it’ http://www.theinertia.com/surf/womens-surfing-doesnt-do-ugly-get-over-it/

  3. 3.

    For a good summary see Wiles, R., Prosser, J., Bagnoli, A., Clark, A., Davies, K., Hollands, S., & Renold, E. (2008). Visual ethics: Ethical issues in visual research and Waycott, J., Guillemin, M., Warr, D., Cox, S., Drew, S. E., & Howell, C. (2015). Re/formulating ethical issues for visual research methods. Visual Methodologies: A Postdisciplinary Journal, 3(2). doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.7331/vm.v3i2.64

  4. 4.

    Such as Bank’s visual methods in social research, 2001; Bates’ Video methods: Social science research in motion, 2015; Harpers Visual sociology, 2012; Rose’s Visual methodologies, 2012; and Pink’s Advances in visual methodologies, 2012.

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  1. Freelance Academic, Independent Scholar, Hamilton, New Zealand

    lisahunter

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  1. Queensland Conservatorium Research Centre, Griffith University, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

    Rachael Dwyer

  2. Griffith Institute for Educational Research, Griffith University, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

    Ian Davis

  3. Griffith University, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

    elke emerald

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lisahunter (2017). If You See What I Mean? Visual Narratives – Stories Told Through, With And By Visual Images. In: Dwyer, R., Davis, I., emerald, e. (eds) Narrative Research in Practice. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-1579-3_5

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