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<\/a><\/p>\nImages are a powerful thing. The picture of a child lying lifeless on a beach can move nations to respond with urgency to a refugee crisis otherwise ignored. Videos of police mistreating a citizen can now go viral on the web, forcing cities to implement systems of accountability otherwise unaddressed. Photographs of the forgotten villagers in remote mountains can inspire entire congregations to give generously and make a difference in places otherwise forsaken.<\/p>\n
Because images are so powerful and abundant, and because they are so easy to capture and disseminate with today\u2019s technology, the book \u201cDoing Visual Ethnography\u201d suggests governing principles that can shape the way a person exercises this power behind the lenses and beyond. With a very academic tone, Sarah Pink proposes that ethnography, which is the art of representing the life and context of others through images, must be done in a reflexive and collaborative manner. This is accomplished by recognizing the subjective nature of the field, by being perceptive about the relationship between the photographer and the persons photographed, by recognizing the interconnection across disciplines that benefit from images, and by discerning the ethical boundaries that inform how these images may be used.<\/p>\n
My experience with this book is captured by the words of Mortimer Adler, who said, \u201cYou will not improve as a reader if all you read are books that are within your capacity. You must tackle books that are beyond you, as we have said, books that are over your head. Only books of that sort will make you stretch your mind.\u201d[1]<\/a>\u00a0 Reading \u201cDoing Visual Ethnography\u201d felt like my mind was being stretched indeed.<\/p>\n Some of the relevant concepts that hit home are related to different dimensions of my experience with photography. First, it is important to realize that in some contexts, when people see me with a camera taking pictures of their lives, I can use that opportunity to create relationships with the subjects of my pictures. This principle is highly significant in my context of pastoral ministry and missions, whether I am ministering to the refugee community in Dallas through soccer tournaments or if I am in Africa visiting remote villages with local pastors. In both cases the same principle remains. Many people want their pictures taken, they want to see the pictures, and they like to hold the camera and take a picture themselves. That interest can indeed be approached as an opportunity to establish contacts that may eventually lead to open doors for the gospel.<\/p>\n Another principle that connected with my experience was that images are powerful because of their subjective nature. They can connect with the audience in so many different ways and move them in different directions because images are interpreted through the lenses of the viewer\u2019s own experiences. On the one hand, images can produce good outcomes, like moving people to be generous and get involved. This phenomenon was the unexpected outcome experienced in some Latin American churches when they saw my photographs of the pastors and villages of Liberia. At that time, I was unaware of the power of images\u2014I was just taking pictures. On the other hand, images can have a negative effect if the dissemination of them is not carefully discerned. For instance, I remember that one person was offended when I showed the images of Liberia because it included children in a village swimming freely in the river wile wearing no swimming suits.\u00a0\u00a0 Interestingly, the same image that for many was \u2018cute,\u2019 was offensive for another viewer.\u00a0\u00a0 So, I must remember that images indeed have the power to touch emotions, so I must be careful in how I use them.<\/p>\n Images are indeed a powerful thing. And If I understand the subjective nature of ethnography and exercise this art with a reflexive mind, I may be able to unleash its potential for the benefit of God\u2019s Kingdom. So as I said, my journey with this book was one from confusion to relevance.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n [1]<\/a> Adler, Mortimer Jerome, and Charles Lincoln Doren. How to Read a Book. Revised and Updated ed. (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1972), 330.<\/p>\n [2]<\/a> A fascinating story that portrays the ethical dimensions of professional photographers is told in the podcast from Radio Lab entitled \u201cSights Unseen.\u201d If interested, check the link http:\/\/www.radiolab.org\/story\/sight-unseen\/<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Images are a powerful thing. The picture of a child lying lifeless on a beach can move nations to respond with urgency to a refugee crisis otherwise ignored. Videos of police mistreating a citizen can now go viral on the web, forcing cities to implement systems of accountability otherwise unaddressed. Photographs of the forgotten […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":71,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[279],"class_list":["post-5655","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-pink","cohort-lgp6"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5655","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/71"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5655"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5655\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5674,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5655\/revisions\/5674"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a>To start with, I had never heard the word \u201cethnography\u201d before, and the fact that this word was part of the title made me start the book with a cloud over my head. Unfortunately, the author did not define what she meant by visual ethnography until pages 34 and 39 while surrounded by highly technical and post-modern language, which presented a challenge for a modern educated theologian like myself. Yet, despite the challenges of topic and tone, I slowly started understanding concepts that connected with a passion of mine: photography. So I can honestly say that my experience with the book was a journey from confusion to relevance.<\/p>\n<\/a>A final insightful principle was the consideration of ethical boundaries in the use of images.[2]<\/a> Among people who use photography or video to raise ministry funds, there is a tendency to misrepresent people or even themselves. I will never forget the time in which I was talking to a Christian man in Ecuador who complained about missionaries who were more like tourists in his eyes. They would show up for events, take pictures, and use those pictures to portray themselves as key players in the ministry, while in reality they were only spectators. Then, they would use those pictures in their missionary letters to raise funds. Sometimes this misrepresentation may not necessarily be shaped by monetary interest; it may simply be shaped by a paternalistic worldview, in which people present themselves as heroes rescuing the helpless. So, as a photographer, I must remember that when I portray others through images, my words should not lack veracity. After all, they are not just images, but real people who deserve my respect.<\/p>\n