A good picture can tell a story but according to Sarah Pink so can a bad picture. It\u2019s not about the picture that is taken but the approach to representing knowledge.<\/p>\n
I found Doing Visual Ethnography<\/em> by Sarah Pink to be way more interesting then I initially thought. I love different cultures so the study of people, what they say, how they act, etc. is pretty fascinating and there is no arguing that pictures, video, and media add a whole new realm to ethnography that didn\u2019t always exist.<\/p>\n While reading this book I couldn\u2019t help but think about the National Geographic magazines my family subscribed too. My dad always kept them low on the bookshelf so I could flip one open anytime. They were filled with great pictures and often left you wondering how they ever captured that moment. It was flipping through those magazines that introduced me to new cultures and opened my eyes to new ways of living, but after reading Sarah Pink I\u2019m wondering what she would think about magazines filled with only the best possible pictures taken.<\/p>\n I was really drawn to the truth Sarah Pink shared about absent photographs. Pink says, \u201cPay attention to how informants speak about images that they have hidden or thrown away; it is not only the photographs that people keep that are of interest, but those that they reject and their reasons for doing so may be of equal interest.\u201d[1]<\/a> If we only talk about the highest resolution pictures or the most difficult to capture shots then we are missing an important part of culture.<\/p>\n Currently, this can most easily be seen by grabbing a college students cell phone and scrolling through their camera roll. The selfies that make it to Facebook and Instagram clearly represent a different image of a person then the pictures hidden for no one to see. If we want to understand the life of a college student through visual ethnography we best not stick to their well-crafted image portrayed on social media alone. It is with that same thought I\u2019d be curious to hear Sarah Pink\u2019s perspective on magazines like National Geographic.<\/p>\n It is this approach to ethnography that I so appreciate in Sarah Pink\u2019s writing. It\u2019s not about \u201ccapturing\u201d ethnography or \u201ccollecting data.\u201d Sarah Pink presents ethnography as an on going process of collecting knowledge. This becomes never-ending and multi-faceted. This approach means the ethnographer must give up an element of control to the audience. Pink says, \u201cPhotographs produced as part of an ethnographic project will be given different meanings by the subjects of those images, local people in that context, the researcher, and other (sometimes critical) audiences.\u201d[2]<\/a> This means the ethnographer becomes vulnerable to the knowledge and concern of an audience. It is humbling and difficult to give up control of your project, but if you view ethnography as Pink does then it is not a project to control but an ongoing journey to understand.<\/p>\n Sarah Pink has taught me that the next time I flip open a National Geographic magazine I should do so as a critical audience member. Not someone choosing to just stare at the beautiful high-resolution pictures, but an audience member willing to advance the conversation based on my own experiences and thoughts.<\/p>\n
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