Learning from Time: A Case Study for Understanding the Principals of Pink’s Book
A few years ago I stumbled upon an article on Time.com that convinced me of the power of visual ethnography. The article highlighted a project called “Hungry Planet,” in which photographer Peter Menzel teamed up with writer Faith D’Aluisio to visually document what families eat in 24 different countries around the world. Each photograph shows the members of the household in the room in which they dine with a week’s worth of groceries on the table. The photos are then captioned with the name of the country, the name of the family, the name of the city in which they live, the cost of one week’s worth of groceries in the country’s own currency and then the equivalent cost in US dollars. The writer also includes a short list of favorite foods.[1]
As I clicked through the photographs and read the captions, I felt as if I was getting an intimate view into different cultures. While eating is a universal human behaviour, what we eat, how much we eat, where we eat, with whom we eat, and how much it costs us to eat are diverse experiences. When we moved to France, my grocery bill doubled. In clicking through the “Hungry Planet” slide show, I discovered my experience reflected the ethnographic study; fo,r at the time of the study a family of four in California spent about $160 a week on groceries while the same size family in France was spending the equivalent of $420 a week.
The cost was only visible through the text, of course. What the photographs showed was that the size and composition of an “average family” was vastly different (15 people in a household in Mali, three generations in a household in Bhutan), that some families dined in the kitchen, others in a dining room, and still others outdoors. It was also clear that some families relied heavily on premade or packaged foods while others were cooking from scratch. Some diets are heavy on grains, some on starch, some on fruits and vegetables, and a few on meats.
I kept thinking of this project as I read Sarah Pink’s book, Doing Visual Ethnography, thankful that I had a frame of reference through which I could understand the methods that Pink was describing. Otherwise, I fear I would have been as lost throughout the entire book, as I was in first three chapters, where the author jumps into a critical analysis of various research methods assuming that the reader is familiar not only with the broad spectrum of social sciences but also with what certain experts think about different research methods.
I breathed a sigh of relief as I got to the later, more practical chapters (perhaps those should have gone first?) and found I could not only understand what Pink was talking about but see a use for it in my life and ministry. I learned all about the importance of doing an ethnographic study while I was in cross-cultural training for mission work. And in fact, we teach our French church planting students that even though they ARE French, they still need to do an ethnographic study on the neighbourhood in which they want to plant a church. But I hadn’t considered the benefits of a visual ethnography.
As Pink clearly notes, photos are helpful and can tell part of the story, but they are still subjective. She writes, “such photographic records are limited because they do not indicate how these objects are experienced or made meaningful by those individuals in whose lives they figure.” [2] For the “Hungry Planet” project, this means that while I may notice fresh vegetables in a photo, I have no way of knowing if they were purchased at a grocery store, a farmer’s market, or grown in a backyard garden. The captions may answer some of these questions, but it may not tell me if the family keeps a garden out of necessity, fear of pesticides, or simply because it’s a hobby.
In the same way, a church planter may take a photograph of a statue in the middle of the square; however, as we have seen with recent events in the US, a photo of a monument does not communicate the current residents’ feelings about the person or event that has been memorialized.
And then, of course, the issue of “reflexivity” must be considered. This was, perhaps, the most insightful part of the book. One reviewer summarized this principal by saying, “The researcher’s own cultural perspective comes into play in the selection of photos, the interpretation of the photos, and the presentation of the photos.”[3] In other words, while all of the people in the “Hungry Planet” project are wearing clothes, the ethnographers’ interest is clearly in food and not fashion. It is the food that is front and center, and the captions are all about the food as well. In the same way, a church planter who loves sports may photograph all the football fields in a village and totally ignore museums or concert halls. But it may be that the city is known for its opera, and to a local, the omission of the opera house in a visual ethnography would signify a gross misunderstanding of the town’s culture.
Reflecting on the question of “reflexivity” has once again reminded me of the importance of self-awareness in the research process. No research is purely objective, I bring myself to it. So, as much as possible, I need to be clear about my own interest and biases in a research project. For example, “Hungry Planet” is said to have depicted, “everything that an average family consumes in a given week—and what it costs.”[4] For this to be as objective as possible, Menzel and D’Aluisio would need to disclose how they determined that a family was “average.” Average in what way? Size? Income level? Weight/food consumption? Even the term “average” is highly subjective!
[1] TIME Staff, “Hungry Planet: What The World Eats,” Time, accessed October 27, 2017, http://time.com/8515/what-the-world-eats-hungry-planet/.
[2] Sarah Pink, Doing Visual Ethnography, 3rd edition (Los Angeles: SAGE, 2013). 80.
[3] Bill Westfall. 2011. Review of Doing Visual Ethnography, by Sarah Pink. Goodreads. Accessed October 27, 2017, https://www.goodreads.com/work/best_book/1043416-doing-visual-ethnography.
[4] Staff, “Hungry Planet.”
About the Author
Jennifer Williamson
Jenn Williamson is a wife and mother of two adult sons. Before moving to France in 2010, she was the women's pastor at Life Center Foursquare Church in Spokane, WA. As a missionary with Greater Europe Mission, she is involved in church planting and mentoring emerging leaders. Jenn benefitted from French mentors during her transition to the field, and recognizes that cross-cultural ministry success depends on being well integrated into the host culture. Academic research into missionary sustainability and cultural adaptation confirmed her own experience and gave her the vision to create Elan, an organization aimed at helping missionaries transition to the field in France through the participation of French partners.8 responses to “Learning from Time: A Case Study for Understanding the Principals of Pink’s Book”
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Jen, It was helpful to see you dive into the ethnography study by a favorite time article of yours and you found new meaning. I considered trying to incorporate the picture of the vulture and the starving child because that picture has always stuck with me. I did not feel I could do it justice though.
Thats interesting you have your pastor do ethnographic studies! Very helpful. We did a lot of this in my missiology courses in undergrad. love it
What is the vulture and starving child picture? I’d love to see what you are talking about.
Jenn,
Great comparison with the family adventure around the world. I think it is great idea within your church planting leadership to understand the sub culture of your neighborhood within the French culture. Visual ethnography might help host an event honoring an artist in the neighborhood. I think it would also be interesting to incorporate pictures in Bible studies and give opportunities to allow people within the christian community to discuss how each see and feel different things from different images.
Keep dreaming about ways to creatively find avenues into the community.
When you mentioned incorporating picture into Bible studies, you made me realize how PowerPoint has given sermons the capacity for visual ethnography to be incorporated into the teaching. An ancient Hebrew well looks different than anything a Western USAmerican would picture, an altar, or even a manger may not be what we think. Thanks for helping me see this connection and how it could apply to preaching.
Jenn,
Have you been able to use the ethnography in France in an effective way, if so what have you found in your studies. I have started doing the same in the neighborhood where our church is and am finding there are many reasons we may not be reaching those closest to us.
Jason
Hi Jenn,
I zeroed in on this quote you shared in your blog: “The researcher’s own cultural perspective comes into play in the selection of photos, the interpretation of the photos, and the presentation of the photos.”
This resonates with me. I think we would call this our “personal bias” and it has to be understood before we begin to research, or at least that is what my academic brothers tell me.
Not that bias is bad (everyone is biased), but it can taint us somewhat. Would you agree?
When Karen and I did a post-grad internship, we were required to spend half a year “exegeting” both the community and our church. (This was prior to the invention of the word “ethnography”, ha!). It was so helpful to delve into the daily reality of individuals and families… where they shopped, what they bought, how they moved around, where they worked, where and how they worshiped, etc. It’s likely similar to what you guide your French church planters in doing. Expanding this to a visual ethnography would be fascinating.
As you know, I recently “liked” your cover photo on Facebook which was a photo of your family. One of the things I observed was the Frenchness of your fashion as a family. The way the scarves are tied, the colours, the stances, the haircuts. There’s a je-ne-sais-quoi attitude. To me it showed you have been shaped by your new home, by the people, culture, and attitudes. It’s only an image, but it made me happy you have embraced France and have entered into life there so wholeheartedly.
First of all, I can’t believe how expensive groceries are in France! Wow that sucks. Regarding the rest of your post, I remember the Hungry Planet project and I thought it was very insightful of you to use that as a reference for your post and reading. National Geographic does visual ethnography very well also. I remember reading their issue devoted to Africa in 2005 on my way to Kinshasa. I remember that issue better than I remember the texts that I read on the plane as well. There is an emotive aspect to this type of research that seems to make it so powerful, especially in today’s highly imaged world. And it seems that the emotional connections we make through well-placed images contribute to a deeper level of learning, but we have to be careful about that too (Pink’s section on ethics was apropos), because of the subjective nature as you mentioned. Thanks for your post Jenn. Looking forward to identifying visual ethnography more when I come across it in the media or wherever.