Abstract
This paper reports on the use of aerial photographs to study the social structure of a dairy farm neighborhood in St. Lawrence County, New York. The paper compares information from aerial photographs of farmsteads and farm work to data gathered in a sociological survey. I examine how the visual data compares to other sociological information; how photographs, in this research, amplify, supplement, or contextualize nonvisual data.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
Collier, John Jr., and Collier, Malcolm. [1967] 1986. Visual Anthropology: Photography as a Research Method. Albuquerque, New Mexico: University of New Mexico Press.
Cruise, James and Lyson, Thomas A. 1991. “Beyond the Farmgate: Factors Related to Agricultural Performance in Two Dairy Communities.” Rural Sociology 56(1), 41-;55.
Edwards, Elizabeth. 1992. Anthropology and Photography: 1869-;1920. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Estrin, Mary Lloyd. 1979. To the Manor Born. Boston: Little Brown.
Davidson, Andrew and Schwarzweller Harry. 1995. “Marginality and Uneven Development: The Decline of Dairying in Michigan's North Country.” Sociologia Ruralis, 35(1), 40-;66.
Faccioli, Patrizia and Pitasi, Andrea. 1995. “A Portrait of Italian Visual Sociology.” Visual Sociology, 10(1-;2), 50-;60.
Gold, Steven. 1995. “New York/LA: A Visual Comparison of Public Life in Two Cities.” Visual Sociology, 10(1-;2), 85-;105.
Levi-Strauss, Claude. 1993. “Another Look.” Homme (33) 2-;4, 7-;10.
Luloff, A.E., and Befort, William. 1989. “Land Use Change and Aerial Photography: Lessons for Applied Sociology.” Rural Sociology, 54(1), 92-;105.
Lyson, Thomas, and Geisler, Charles. 1992. “Toward a Second Agricultural Divide: The Restructuring of American Agriculture.” Sociologia Ruralis, 32(23), 248-;263.
Harper, Douglas. 1987. Worldng Knowledge: Skill and Community in a Small Shop. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Harper, Douglas. 1988. “Visual Sociology: Expanding Sociological Vision.” The American Sociologist, 19(1), 54-;70.
Owens, Bill. 1973. Suburbia. San Francisco: Straight Arrow Press.
Piore, Michael and Sabel, Charles. 1984. Toward a Second Industrial Divide. New York: Basic Books.
Wapplington, Nick. 1991. Living Room. New York: Aperture.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Harper, D. Visualizing Structure: Reading Surfaces of Social Life. Qualitative Sociology 20, 57–77 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024764214854
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024764214854