Skip to main content

Autoethnography and Photo-Essay

Combining written word and photographs

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Raum und Bild - Strategien visueller raumbezogener Forschung
  • 2263 Accesses

Abstract

Autoethnography can be described as a combination of autobiographical and ethnographic practices. It is a method that emphasizes the researcher’s emotions and experiences. For the most part, autoethnography comes in written form, based on introspection of one’s memory as well as on field notes, diary entries, drawings, or photographs. The visual material, however, is mostly regarded as a stimulant for emotional recall and not as autoethnography itself. The following contribution therefore explores how autoethnography and photography can be combined through the medium of the photo-essay. The photo-essay is based on fieldwork experiences in Detroit, MI, between 2016 and 2019. It is an attempt to question and unveil my positionality and the situatedness of (my) knowledge (production), aiming towards a more reflexive way of doing ethnography.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

eBook
USD 19.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 29.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nora Mariella Küttel .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2021 Springer-Verlag GmbH Deutschland, ein Teil von Springer Nature

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Küttel, N.M. (2021). Autoethnography and Photo-Essay. In: Kogler, R., Wintzer, J. (eds) Raum und Bild - Strategien visueller raumbezogener Forschung. Springer Spektrum, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-61965-0_5

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-61965-0_5

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer Spektrum, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-662-61964-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-662-61965-0

  • eBook Packages: Social Science and Law (German Language)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics