Year: 2023
Type: article
Abstract: After fieldwork, photographic materials are developed, whether by analogue or digital means, analysed as material findings, and then used in anthropological publications.What intentions motivate anthropologists who make use of this medium, beyond the "realist pact" (Olivier de Sardan 2017)?Is it predominantly a desire to demonstrate something, an aesthetic intention, or a wish to convey a sort of presence and affective or emotional dimensions that would be difficult to communicate through written text alone (Edwards 2015)?How and under what conditions does research continue in the form of a photography exhibition, and what constraints and effects does this have on the knowledge that is shared with a wider audience in this way?Almost all of the contributions to this edition address these questions.Two articles, however, stand out for their autobiographical treatment of the subject, over careers spanning over twenty years.Manoël Pénicaud captures the "shared religiosity" that unites believers of various faiths who visit holy sites around the Mediterranean alongside one another.His analysis begins with the practical issues involved in taking photographs in the dynamic context of pilgrimages, where the ethnographer has to find a status and a place.He then seeks to define the function of the photographs, especially in terms of memory, during his analysis.Finally, he considers what they evoke when distributed at conferences, in publications, and at exhibitions, thereby raising the question of their sensory and emotional specificity.Meanwhile, Maïté Boullosa-Joly addresses almost the same questions as she reflects on her long ethnographic project among the indigenous peoples of north-west Argentina, focusing on the way photography positioned her in this social space.Patrice Diatta conducted research on waste in the suburbs of Dakar (Senegal) and Bamako (Mali) using a participatory visual method.He developed a method of study that could be adapted and reconstructed depending on the circumstances to capture his interlocutors' views on the topic.He had residents of the suburbs accompany him while he took photographs 'on demand', without giving them the camera. 1
Source: Civilisations
DOI: 10.4000/12t92
Authors: Mikaëla Le Meur, Pierre Petit
Institutions: Université Libre de Bruxelles, Fund for Scientific Research
Language: English
Subfield: History
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W4404913754