Visual Anthropology

A common introduction to anthropology is through film and television programmes. Series such as BBC TV’s Tribe (www.bbc.co.uk/tribe/), while not strictly anthropological in intent, nonetheless give an insight into other societies. Older series, such as Granada Television’s Disappearing World and BBC TV’s Under the Sun, were made by anthropologists working with professional film-makers and give rich accounts of life in non-European societies: many films from these series are available for hire or purchase from the RAI. They are valuable in revealing a more rounded representation of the issues that anthropologists normally investigate - particularly with respect to ritual, music, dance and other areas where a purely written description cannot convey the richness of the experience. Teachers of anthropology have also found film to be valuable for conveying a sense of the work that anthropologists actually do in the field.

However, visual anthropology is much more than ethnographic film. It encompasses a much wider study of visual systems. Most anthropologists produce visual representations in the course of their work (often photographs, but also video footage, maps, drawings and diagrams) and all societies make visible aspects of their social life and their cultural understandings. Visual anthropology is concerned with understanding the production and consumption of all these forms. Visual anthropology clearly overlaps with the anthropology of art, but also includes the study of local photographic practice and increasingly the study of local television and film production.

Text written by Professor Marcus Banks  (reproduced with author’s permission)

Postgraduate Programmes in the UK

Goldsmiths, University of London

University of Manchester

University of Kent 

University College London

University of Oxford 

Recommended Resources

General

http://www.visualanthropology.net - A extensive website offering news and resources for visual anthropology.

http://www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/ss/visualising_ethnography/ - A resource and gateway site for students and researchers using visual methods of research and representation in ethnographic projects.


Professional Organisations, Groups, and Associations

European Association of Social Anthropologists, Visual Anthropology Network - The network aims to cover all aspects of Visual Anthropology

Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain (RAI) - The RAI is active in promoting Visual Anthropology and holds one of the Europe's largest collections of ethnographic films.

Society for Visual Anthropology – A section of the American Anthropological Association promoting the study of visual representation and media. 

Books

Principles in Visual Anthropology, Third Edition
Paul Hockings, Ed.
(Mouton de Gruyter, 2003)

The Future of Visual Anthropology:Engaging the Senses
By: Sarah Pink
(Routledge 2005)

The Ethnographer’s Eye: Ways of seeing Anthropology
By: Anna Grimshaw
(Cambridge University Press, 2001)

Films

The Royal Anthropological Institute (RAI) has one of the largest ethnographic film libraries in Europe. Films are available for hire, sale or loan for educational and academic purposes. Click here for a list of films the RAI distributes on Visual Anthropology.