I think I did visual ethnography, maybe?
I think I did visu
al ethnography—or at least a homespun version of it—but I just didn’t know it. When I was a teenager I spent four summers with a group called Teen Missions International (TMI). TMI sends teams of teenagers around the world on mission projects; some of those projects are primarily construction while others are evangelistic. As a participant I had some pretty interesting cross-cultural experiences. And the more often I went, the better I became at documenting my experience. The fourth trip was to Papua New Guinea (PNG), a visual anthropologist’s dream–some seven hundred distinct languages, and seven hundred different ethnic groups, complete with distinctive cultural practices.
At seventeen I had no intention of sharing my “research” as a visual ethnography study. I didn’t understand or consider what the practical, ethical, or methodological considerations were. But what I endeavored to do was capture the cultural distinctive of these tribal people so that I could effectively share my experience with supporters, friends and even in my public high school during a full assembly. The technology I used was an old Minolta camera, with three different lenses; photos only – alas, no video.
As Sarah Pink indicates in “Doing Visual Ethnography,”[i] the photos should be understood reflexively. Each one took place at a specific moment in time; they depict knowledge, artifacts, and social relationships – in other words, they depict a unique world. Depending on their perspective, each viewer will see something different, different from the photographer and different from the participants in the study. She continues, saying “The meanings of photographs are contingent and subjective; they depend on who is looking, and when they are looking”[ii]. Without “going off” on her postmodern love for ambiguity, she makes a great point.
Our team lived for six weeks deep into the jungles of PNG, alongside tribal peoples, near the Sepik River. We were invited into their villages, into their spirit houses; we ate at their community pig roast, and joined them in their sing-sings. We traveled in long hand-carved canoes on the crocodile-infested Sepik River, we ate sago paste, a national staple (nothing but starch scraped out of a tree), and we ate fresh grubs. I took photos of everything. While I could tell a story with my photos, the audience didn’t really experience what I experienced. I had my perspective on the culture, on what I found interesting, on how I interpreted such-and-such a practice, event, or artifact, but it was simply my view.
We were more than tourists, so I could tell a story that was rich, culturally accurate, and would help my audience learn something of the tribal life along the Sepik River. But regardless of how accurate my visual communication might be, it doesn’t communicate in realistic terms the same significance that I assigned to it. Each person who sees it interacts with their own unique knowledge. To offset this challenge, Pink indicates that a reflexive approach to analysis would focus on understanding the context in which the photographer or researcher finds themselves. The more we understand and accurately communicate the context, the more accurate our interpretation of the event. That sounds a lot like Hermeneutics to me.
Reflecting on visual ethnography and the challenges involved in communicating a culture reminds me of an experience I’ve had many times, but is still an enigma to me; I wonder if any of my fellow D Min. students have had a similar experience. I’ve been blessed to live in many cultures, some for a short term—a summer—some for much longer, such as living in Thailand for five years. Here’s what I don’t understand: when I get back to my home country the interest of others in my cross-cultural experience is often tepid, merely polite, and in many ways seems shallow. I’ve started out enthusiastic about sharing such experiences, but after many a cool response I’ve learned to make responses brief and appropriate to a shallow interest. Why is that?
Pink’s book has helped me understand this a bit better. She concluded that “visual ethnography is not a method – not something that is ‘done’ but something that is happening in the doing, and the doing is ongoing as technology, theory, practice and life move forward in new ways.”[iii] So my conclusion is similar: living in another culture isn’t something that is “done,” but it happens in the doing. Communicating it as something that is ‘done’ minimizes it, and it’s received as such. Communicating it as “ongoing,” bringing people into the experience, that is the goal of Sarah Pink’s “Doing Visual Ethnography” and it is my goal too.
[i] Pink, Sarah. Doing Visual Ethnography: 3rd ed. London: Sage, 2013.
[ii] Ibid., p. 75.
[iii] Ibid., p. 213.
About the Author
Dave Young
husband, dad, friend, student of culture and a pastor.12 responses to “I think I did visual ethnography, maybe?”
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First, before any comment about what you wrote – how do you get those cool pictures in your posts, Dave? I wanna do that 🙂
I resonate with your longing for others to experience what you have while being in other cultures, realizing the profound impact it makes. In fact, I’ve nearly given up in doing the whole slide show, see where I went and learned, and “hope you’re interested too” spiel. I usually get glassy-eyed responses. Instead, I trick, not really, but I do insist that the only way someone understands another culture in the best sense of it requires going there, even for a short visit.
That’s why even tho’ I didn’t understand the word “ethnography” at first, I realized it’s something I’ve always done, but just didn’t have the technical term for it.
Oh and one more thing – when were you in Papau New Guinea? My sister lived there a long time ago with New Tribes for about 2 years.
Mary,
Regarding the pics just pick the “add media” button. Find the file you want to load into your post – fairly straight forward.
New Tribs… Hard core missionary! I was there during the summer of 1984. It was an amazing experience. Have you heard of Marilyn Laszlo with Wycliffe? She spoke many times at Teen Missions and was always an inspiration to me. We worked in the same area as her.
here is a youtube about her
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eyAO08nBRk
Mary,
I love that you “insist that the only way someone understands another culture in the best sense of it requires going there, even for a short visit.”
The more we can share a common perspective regarding culture, landscape, people, etc., the better we can communicate through visual images. Two people comparing photos they took of the same event will naturally understand the significance of each photo better than someone who was not there.
Dave…I love your comparison to Hermeneutics. The lens we look at scripture with varies from person to person and culture to culture. We need to listen to each other. It’s hard to value someone else’s experience but their lens teaches us something about Jesus. That perspective requires us to hold our own perspectives loosely, to be good question askers, and to also be ready to learn. Thank you for the reminder that this is an ongoing process.
Dave, you said “[t]he more we understand and accurately communicate the context, the more accurate our interpretation of the event. That sounds a lot like Hermeneutics to me.” So… as we are able to communicate clearly the broader context surrounding the image or words on a page, then that communication serves to shape a hermeneutical context so that people who are seeing or reading can more accurately understand your actual experience in the field. How important is it that the viewer come to the same conclusions as the researcher? Is it important at all?
Jon,
When it comes to “coming to the same conclusions at the researcher” I don’t think that’s totally possible or fully necessary in as much as we all have our own unique knowledge base, bias, etc. However, on the spectrum of effective communication, ‘context’ is simply one of the best tools we’ve got in understanding the content of the study.
Now in case you’re wondering my perspective on hermeneutics and if a biblical text can be interpreted in such a way that’s ‘trustworthy’ – well yes I do. And context is king!
Dave, Your post reminded me of the saying my siblings and I use to use in what seems like the 80’s when someone was trying to tell a funny story of something they experienced, but at the end of the story telling moment the listeners all would respond . . . “I guess you had to be there.” While that statement was usually used by immature teenagers trying to make fun of each other, I do think it is the tension you were referring to when trying to communicate and culture experience from a photograph. I am even amazed by looking back at photographs of images I was the one who took, my memory didn’t fully serve me in remember the whole experience that was taken in when that image was captured in person. I do think Pink’s work did a great job of surfacing this tension and delivering a bit of the sad truth of this reality and would could be called frustration.
Dave,
I love that your photo not only captures our attention, but it causes us to want to ask questions rearing the context.
It is great to hear the places that you have been and especially that delicious paste you ate, lol. Its funny but for me to listened to you I got really interested in your trip. I have never been out of the country and only lived in another state for six months. So your written visual had me paying close attention. The details took me there a little. So some people may not be interested in tribes and other places to live but if they see that picture of that tribesman and you start talking I’m sure they will want to hear more! Blessings
Dave,
I love your post this week – sounds like you have had some amazing opportunities. You asked, “when I get back to my home country the interest of others in my cross-cultural experience is often tepid, merely polite, and in many ways seems shallow. I’ve started out enthusiastic about sharing such experiences, but after many a cool response I’ve learned to make responses brief and appropriate to a shallow interest. Why is that?” I’ve seen this also when myself or others are sharing about something really good that has happened to them. I’m not sure the reason, but sometimes it seems as if people are so unhappy in their own situations that they have trouble sharing in the excitement of someone else. It seems to be a cultural attitude…fewer people take a genuine interest in others. I’m not sure the cause, but I have often wondered if this attitude also contributes to the decrease in funding of missionaries that has been seen across the board.
PS….I’ve also seen this same lack of excitement when a new believer accepts Christ. We should rejoice with that person, but often we dismiss it as a routine life event rather than a significant, amazing life change. Do you think we are becoming desensitized? Or is there another cause?
Dawnel,
I think you are onto something, while there maybe many reasons for folks lack of interest I agree that it is at least impart our own self-obsession. If presented with an amazing life experience, from living in a distant culture, or truly amazing a transformed life. Then as the recipient I simply might not be able to connect with the passion, with the genuine excitement. Literally it might be foreign to me. Does the missionary need to dumb down their experience, does the new convert need to temper their excitement. Dang, what have we come to?