Abstract
This article proposes a new way to use photographs in ethnographic research. The method builds on earlier examinations of the unique properties of photographic articulation, interpretation and use, employing the inherent ambiguities of photographic imagery. Responses to ethnographic photographs of a rural farm community were recorded during group interview sessions and analyzed in relation to additional ethnographic data gathered in order to study sociocultural continuity and change across generations in farm families.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Barthes, R. 1964 “Rhetorique de l'image.” Communications 4.
Bateson, G. & Mead, M. 1942 Balinese Character. Special Publications of the New York Academy of Sciences, Vol. II. New York: New York Academy of Sciences.
Becker, H. S. 1974 “Photography and Sociology.” Studies in the Anthropology of Visual Communication 1 (1):3–26.
1964 “Still Photography in the Systematic Recording and Analysis of Behavioral Data.” Human Organization 23:78–84.
1966 “Cameras Don't Take Pictures.” Columbia University Forum 9:27–31.
Caldarola, V. 1985 “Visual Contexts: A Photographic Research Method in Anthropology.” Studies in Visual Communication 11(3):33–53.
Collier, J., Jr. 1967 Visual Anthropology: Photography as a Research Method. New York: Holt, Rinehart, Winston.
Custen, G. F. 1982 “Talking About Film.” In Sari Thomas (Ed.), Film/Culture: Explorations of Cinema in its Social Context. Metuchen: Scarecrow Press.
Marron, M. F. 1976 “Eden Township.” In Helen Moeller, (Ed.), Out of the Midwest: A Portrait. Marceline: Walsworth Publishing Company.
Messaris, P. & Gross, L. 1977 “Interpretations of a Photographic Narrative by Viewers in Four Age Groups.” Studies in the Anthropology of Visual Communication 4(2):99–111.
Musello, C. 1980 “Studying the Home Mode: An Exploration of Family Photography and Visual Communication.” Studies in Visual Communication 6(1):23–42.
Pallenik, M. J. 1976 “A Gunman in Town! Children Interpret a Comic Book.” Studies in the Anthropology of Visual Communication 3(1):38–51.
1973 “Up the Zambesi with Notebook and Camera or Being an Anthropologist Without Doing Anthropology ... With Pictures.” Savicom Newsletter 4(3):12–15.
1976 “In a Pic's Eye: Interpretive Strategies for Deriving Significance and Meaning from Photographs.” Afterimage 3(9):5–7.
Sekula, A. 1975 “On the Invention of Photographic Meaning.” Artforum 13(5):36–45.
Wagner, J. (Ed.). 1979 Images of Information: Still Photography in the Social Sciences. Beverly Hills, California: Sage.
Worth, S. 1980 “Margaret Mead and the Shift from ‘Visual Anthropology’ to the ‘Anthropology of Visual Communication.’” Studies in Visual Communication 6(1):15–22.
Worth, S. & Gross, L. 1974 “Symbolic Strategies.” Journal of Communication 24(4):27–39.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Schwartz, D. Visual ethnography: Using photography in qualitative research. Qual Sociol 12, 119–154 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00988995
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00988995