An Introduction to Visual Anthropology

Visual anthropology is an academic subfield of anthropology that has two distinct but intersecting aims. The first involves the addition of images including video and film to ethnographic studies, to enhance the communication of anthropological observations and insights through the use of photography, film, and video. The second one is more or less the anthropology of art,  understanding visual images, including: How far do humans as a species rely on what is seen, and how do they integrate that into their lives?How significant is the visual aspect of life in any particular society or civilization? andHow does a visual image represent (bring into existence, make visible, exhibit or reproduce an action or person, and/or stand as an example for) something Visual anthropology methods include photo elicitation, the use of images to stimulate culturally relevant reflections from informants. The end results are narratives (film, video, photo essays) which communicate typical events of a cultural scene. History Visual Anthropology only became possible with the availability of cameras in the 1860s—arguably the first visual anthropologists were not anthropologists at all but rather photojournalists like the Civil War photographer Matthew Brady;  Jacob Riis, who photographed 19th-century slums of New York;  and  Dorthea Lange, who documented the Great Depression in stunning photographs. In the mid-nineteenth century, academic anthropologists began collecting and making photographs of the people they studied. So-called collecting clubs included the British anthropologists Edward Burnett Tylor, Alfred Cort Haddon, and Henry Balfour, who exchanged and shared photographs as part of an attempt to document and classify ethnographic races. The Victorians concentrated on British colonies such as India, the French focused on Algeria, and the U.S. anthropologists concentrated on Native American communities. Modern scholars now recognize that imperialist scholars classifying the people of subject colonies as others is an important and downright ugly aspect of this early anthropological history. Some scholars have commented that visual representation of cultural activity is, of course, very ancient indeed, including cave art representations of hunting rituals beginning 30,000 years ago or more. Photography and Innovation The development of photography as a part of the scientific ethnographic analysis is usually attributed to Gregory Bateson and Margaret Meads 1942 examination of Balinese culture called Balinese Character: A Photographic Analysis. Bateson and Mead took more than 25,000 photos while conducting research in Bali, and published 759 photographs to support and develop their ethnographic observations. In particular, the photos—arranged in a sequential pattern like stop-motion movie clips—illustrated how the Balinese research subjects performed social rituals or engaged in routine behavior. Film as ethnography is an innovation generally attributed to Robert Flaherty, whose 1922 film Nanook of the North is a silent recording of activities of an Inuit band in the Canadian Arctic. Purpose In the beginning, scholars felt that using imagery was a way to make an objective, accurate, and complete study of social science that had been typically fueled by an extensively detailed description. But there is no doubt about it,  the photo collections were directed and often served a purpose. For example, the photos used by anti-slavery and aborigine protection societies were selected or made to make the natives more human and needier, through poses, framings, and settings. American photographer Edward Curtis made skillful use of aesthetic conventions, framing Native Americans as sad, unresisting victims of an inevitable and indeed divinely ordained manifest destiny. Anthropologists such as Adolphe Bertillon and Arthur Cervin sought to objectify the images by specifying uniform focal lengths, poses, and backdrops to remove the distracting noise of context, culture, and faces. Some photos went so far as to isolate body parts from the individual (like tattoos). Others such as Thomas Huxley planned to produce an orthographic inventory of the races in the British Empire, and that, coupled with a corresponding urgency to collect the last vestiges of disappearing cultures drove much of the 19th and early 20th century efforts. Ethical Considerations All of this came crashing to the forefront in the 1960s and 1970s when the clash between ethical requirements of anthropology and the technical aspects of using photography became untenable. In particular, the use of imagery in academic publication has impacts on the ethical requirements of anonymity, informed consent, and telling the visual truth. Privacy: Ethical anthropology requires that scholar protect the privacy of the subjects that are interviewed: taking their picture makes that nearly impossibleInformed consent: Anthropologists need to explain to their informants that their images may appear in the research and what the implications of those images might mean—and get that consent in writing—before the research beginsTelling the truth: Visual scholars must understand that it is unethical to alter images to change their meaning or present an image that connotes a reality not consistent with the understood reality. University Programs and Job Outlook Visual anthropology is a subset of the larger field of anthropology. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the numbers of jobs projected to grow between 2014 and 2024 is about 4 percent, slower than the average, and competition for those jobs is likely to be fierce given the small number of positions relative to applicants. A handful of university programs specializing in the use of visual and sensory media in anthropology, including: The University of Southern California MA at the Center for Visual AnthropologyHarvard Universitys Ph.D. program at Sensory Ethnography LabThe University of Londons MA and Ph.D. in Visual AnthropologyThe University of Manchesters MA at the Granada Centre for Visual Anthropology Finally, the Society for Visual Anthropology, part of the American Anthropological Association, has a research conference and film and media festival and publishes the journal Visual Anthropology Review. A second academic journal, titled Visual Anthropology, is published by Taylor Francis. Sources: Cant A. 2015. One Image, Two Stories: Ethnographic and Touristic Photography and the Practice of Craft in Mexico. Visual Anthropology 28(4):277-285.Harper D. 2001. Visual Methods in the Social Sciences. In: Baltes PB, editor. International Encyclopedia of the Social Behavioral Sciences. Oxford: Pergamon. p 16266-16269.Loizos P. 2001. Visual Anthropology. In: Baltes PB, editor. International Encyclopedia of the Social Behavioral Sciences. Oxford: Pergamon. p 16246-16250.Ortega-Alcà ¡zar I. 2012. Visual Research Methods, International Encyclopedia of Housing and Home. San Diego: Elsevier. p 249-254.Pink S. 2014. Digital–visual–sensory-design anthropology: Ethnography, imagination Arts and Humanities in Higher Education 13(4):412-427.and intervention.Poole D. 2005. An excess of description: Ethnography, race, and visual technologies. Annual Review of Anthropology 34(1):159-179.

What Does the American Flag Symbolize

Humans could not exist without symbols. These representations of objects and concepts allow us to explore relationships between things and ideas in ways not otherwise possible. The American flag is, of course, a symbol, but a symbol of what? The answers to these questions are at the heart of debates between supporters and opponents of laws outlawing burning or desecration of the American flag. What is a Symbol? A symbol is an object or image that represents something else (an object, a concept, etc.). Symbols are conventional, which means that one thing represents something else because people agree to treat it that way. There is nothing inherent in the symbol that requires it to represent the symbolized thing, and there is nothing inherent in the symbolized thing which requires that a particular object represent it. Some symbols are closely connected to what they represent, for example, the cross is a symbol of Christianity because a cross is believed to have been used to execute Jesus. Sometimes the connection between a symbol and what it represents is abstract for example, a ring is used to represent marriage because the circle is thought to represent unbroken love. Most of the time, though, a symbol is completely arbitrary with no connection to what it represents. Words are arbitrary symbols for objects, a red flag is an arbitrary symbol of having to stop as well as of socialism, and a scepter is an arbitrary symbol of royal power. It is also the norm that things which are symbolized exist prior to the symbols with represent them, though in a few cases we find unique symbols which exist prior to that which they symbolize. A popes signet ring, for example, not only symbolizes his papal authority but is also constructive of that authority without the ring, he cannot authorize decrees. Symbolic Impact of Flag Burning Some believe there can be mystical connections between symbols and what they symbolize for example, that one can write something on a piece of paper and burn it to influence what was symbolized by the words. In truth, though, destroying a symbol does not affect what is symbolized except when the symbol creates what is symbolized. When a popes ring is destroyed, the ability to authorize decisions or proclamations under that popes authority is also destroyed. Such situations are the exception. If you burn a person in effigy, you do not also burn the actual person. If you destroy a Christian cross, Christianity itself is unaffected. If a wedding ring is lost, this doesnt mean that a marriage is broken. So why do people get upset when symbols are mishandled, treated disrespectfully, or damaged? Because symbols are not just isolated objects: symbols mean something to the people who understand and use them. Bowing before a symbol, ignoring a symbol, and destroying a symbol all send messages about ones attitudes, interpretation, or beliefs regarding that symbol as well as what it represents. In a way, such actions are themselves symbols because what one does with respect to a symbol is symbolic of how they feel about that which is symbolized. Furthermore, because symbols are conventional, a symbols meaning is affected by how people relate to it. The more people treat a symbol respectfully, the more it may come to represent good things; the more people treat a symbol disrespectfully, the more it may come to represent negative things or at least cease to represent the positive ones. Which comes first, though? Does a symbol cease to represent positive things because of how people treat it or do people treat it poorly because it has already ceased to represent positive things? This is the crux of the debate between opponents and supporters of bans on desecrating the American flag. Supporters say that desecration undermines the flags symbolic value; opponents say that desecration only occurs if or because its value has already been undermined and that it can only be restored by the behavior of those who disagree. Banning desecration of the flag is an attempt to use the law to enforce the first perspective. Because it avoids dealing with the possibility that the second may be true, that it is an illegitimate use of government power to short-circuit substantive debates about the nature of what the flag symbolizes: America and American power. The entire point of bans on flag burning or desecration is to suppress the communication of interpretations of and attitudes towards the American flag which are inconsistent with the beliefs and attitudes of most Americans. Its the expression of a minority viewpoint about that which is being symbolized America which is at issue here, not the physical protection the symbol itself.

The Interview With A Interview Essay - 1382 Words

Although, all the participants had not experienced being in an interview before, they agree to have the interviews recorded. For them, it was the first time spoke openly to a person outside of their family and friends’ cycle about their experience. Women showed their interest on my research and felt that their participation might be helpful in informing cancer health care services. My aim from the recorded interviews is to understand how women response and interact with my questions that enabled the collection of rich data. Elliott (2005) stressed on the importance of telling the interviewees from the beginning about the timing as to make them aware of how much information to share. The Interview duration was last between one and two hours including pausing because some women were emotionally affected. The interviews’ private setting at the hospital helped the recordings to be clear with minimal noise and distractions. A number of participants were comfortable talking with me about their personal experiences and private issues and found it very useful to express their emotions. However, some women commented being uncomfortable discussing issues related to financial and social issues. Some women tend to give socially pleasing answers; this type of responses noted mostly when they describe their position as cancer survivors. Therefore, further questions and asking for examples were used to elicit deeper understanding. Women’s reactions (verbal and non-verbal) duringShow MoreRelatedInterview : Interview And Interview915 Words   |  4 PagesInterview: Mak Recently, I had taken the time to interview Mak. Her full name is Eunice Mak and is a young lady of 26 years living in San Francisco, California with her grandparents, parents, and brother. She graduated from San Francisco State University with a Bachelor of Science in Human Development. She currently works at Kaiser as a Pharmacy Technician. 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Sun Also Rises By Hemingway Essay Example For Students

Sun Also Rises By Hemingway Essay Madam Adam: Hemingways exploration of Man in The Sun Also Rises Itsreally an awfully simple operation, Jig, the man said. Its not reallyan operation at all. Much of Hemingways body of work grows from issues ofmale morality. In his concise, Hills Like White Elephants, a couplediscusses getting an abortion while waiting for a train in a Spanish railstation bar. Years before Roe v. Wade, before the issues of abortion rights,mothers rights, and unborn childrens rights splashed across the Americanmass consciousness, Ernest Hemingway assessed the effects of abortion on arelationship, and, more specifically, he examined a mans role in determiningthe necessity of the procedure and its impact on his psyche and his ability tolove. The Sun Also Rises continues the investigation of the morality of being aman in longer, more foundational form. Rather than dealing with such a discreteissue as Hills Like White Elephants, the novel discusses questions ofmasculinity on a large scale by testing an array of male characters, eachperfect in some traditionally masculine traits, with a woman perfectly designedto cut to their flaws. The three most important of these controlled experimentsbalance each other particularly well. Lady Bretts treatment of Jake Barnes,Pedro Romero, and, much more briefly, Count Mippopopolous allows ErnestHemingway to exhibit the infinite fallibility of Man as his most fundamental andimportant quality rather than exulting the tough-guy, ubermench cult he is oftencredited with popularizing. Ernest Hemingway says he slapped Max Eastmansface with a book and Max Eastman says he threw Hemingway over a desk andstood him on his head in a corner They both tell of the face-slapping, butMr. Hemingway denies Mr. Eastman threw him anywhere or stood him on his head inany place, and says that he will donate $1,000 to any charityfor the pleasureof Mr. Eastmans company in a locked room with all legal rights waved.Hemingways penchant for adventure, belief in honor, and outward male prideoften manifested themselves in well-publicized scandals such as his 1937 rumblewith Max Eastman. Some of his stories, like surviving on bananas and rum in theAfrican jungle after suffering two plane crashes, have integrated themselvesinto American folklore. The author seemed to live the romantic, wild lifestylehis novels reported. And Hemingway did lead an exciting lifehunting inAfrica, fishing off Cuba, battling in Spain, and drinking in France. However,Hemingway killed himself in July of 1961, so he obviously found shortcomings inthe commingling of fiction and reality that he created. Consequently, a readingof The Sun Also Rises that examines the failures of its male characters as astudy of qualities men ought to have inevitably proves anemicall of themsuffer from flaws the author purposely highlights. Hemingway cannot deny theimportance and existence of heroic acts even within a novel containing nocomplete hero. Rather, the defects of the men with whom Lady Brett cultivatesrelationships throughout the book represent the obstacles that all men mustovercome as the necessary action of heroism. His story, The Short Happy Lifeof Francis Macomber, follows the full cycle of this process, from theemasculation of its protagonist when his wife witnesses his flight from a lionon safari, to his murder as a result of conquering his fear. Noticeably, though,the heroic completion of Francis Macomber who grows, awfully brave,awfully suddenly immediately precedes the death he suffers not in thefangs of his previous adversary but at the hands of his wife, societysrepresentative on that plot of savannah. Jake Barnes, the narrator in The SunAlso Rises, does not clearly recount the moments that stole the physicalcomponent of his masculinity. The novel simply informs the reader of thepresence of such a war injury, which becomes Lady Brett, his professed lovesexcuse for her incomplete attention to him. But Jakes basic failing as a manparadoxically provides him with an increased tolerance for Brett and his abilityto, somewhat objectively, relate a story about her sexual activity. .u221c9cf631778cd03438519a9ef31519 , .u221c9cf631778cd03438519a9ef31519 .postImageUrl , .u221c9cf631778cd03438519a9ef31519 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u221c9cf631778cd03438519a9ef31519 , .u221c9cf631778cd03438519a9ef31519:hover , .u221c9cf631778cd03438519a9ef31519:visited , .u221c9cf631778cd03438519a9ef31519:active { border:0!important; } .u221c9cf631778cd03438519a9ef31519 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u221c9cf631778cd03438519a9ef31519 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u221c9cf631778cd03438519a9ef31519:active , .u221c9cf631778cd03438519a9ef31519:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u221c9cf631778cd03438519a9ef31519 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u221c9cf631778cd03438519a9ef31519 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u221c9cf631778cd03438519a9ef31519 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u221c9cf631778cd03438519a9ef31519 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u221c9cf631778cd03438519a9ef31519:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u221c9cf631778cd03438519a9ef31519 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u221c9cf631778cd03438519a9ef31519 .u221c9cf631778cd03438519a9ef31519-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u221c9cf631778cd03438519a9ef31519:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Flat and Hierarchical structures Essay Barnes alsowields a cool tone before any emotional situation in completing the tough taskof tracking Ashley. The man refuses any connection to an outside characterdeeper than drinking and banter. For instance, in Burguete he responds,Drink up, Harris, to a new fishing buddys admission, I say,Barnes. You dont know what this all means to me. Arthur Waldhorn notes inhis Readers Guide to Ernest Hemingway, what Jake offers himself is aself-study course in emotional pragmatism.