A common introduction to anthropology is through film and television programmes. Series such as BBC TV’s 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, Granada Centre for Visual Anthropology
Recommended Resources
Films
The following film Bury the Hatchet was screened at the 11rh RAI International Festival of Ethnographic Film in 2009.
Bury the Hatchet
Director Aaron Walker
Location New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
Language English
Release 2009
Length 84 mins
Bury the Hatchet features three Mardi Gras Indian Big Chiefs in a dynamic portrait of the unique and endangered culture of New Orleans they represent. Descendants of runaway slaves given harbor by the Native Americans of Louisiana, these practitioners of a hundred-year-old tradition sew elaborate costumes resembling that of the Indians, parading through the streets of the city on Mardi Gras day. In footage collected for three years pre-Katrina and one year post, the filmmaker was allowed intimate access to this often hidden New Orleans experience.
RAI Film is the Film section of the Royal Anthropological Institute (RAI) – the world‘s longest-established scholarly association dedicated to the furtherance of anthropology (the study of humankind) in its broadest and most inclusive sense. Their Ethnographic Film Catalogue is an extensive ethnographic film catalogue (over 600 titles) that are variously available to purchase as DVDs, personal rent on demand (Vimeo VOD), and accessible to institutions via our online streaming partners for educational and academic purposes. The following films are examples of visual anthropology: Future Remembrance, The Professional Foreigner, The Art of Regret, Photo Wallahs.
Photography
Take a look at the RAI’s 2010 photo contest ‘Meaning of Water’ galleries:
- Livelihoods and Sustainability Category
- Trade and Transport Category
- Management and Access Category
- Religion and Spirituality Category
Take a look at the RAI’s 2010 Anthropology of Sport contest galleries:
General
http://www.visualanthropology.net – A extensive website offering news and resources for visual anthropology.
Books
The Future of Visual Anthropology:Engaging the Senses
Pink, Sarah (Routledge 2005)
Visual Anthropology: Essential Method And Theory
El Guindi, Fadwa (AltaMira Press, 2004)
Principles in Visual Anthropology, Third Edition
Hockings, P. Ed. (Mouton de Gruyter, 2003)
Professional Organisations, Groups, and Associations
European Association of Social Anthropologists, Visual Anthropology Network – The network aims to cover all aspects of Visual Anthropology
RAI Film is the Film section of the Royal Anthropological Institute (RAI). Their Ethnographic Film Catalogue is an extensive ethnographic film catalogue (over 600 titles) that are variously available to purchase as DVDs, personal rent on demand (Vimeo VOD), and accessible to institutions via our online streaming partners for educational and academic purposes.
Society for Visual Anthropology – A section of the American Anthropological Association promoting the study of visual representation and media.
