LibGuides: Anthropology Thesis Guide: Visual Anthropology

Visual Anthropology

Visual anthropology is a subfield of social anthropology that is concerned, in part, with the study and production of ethnographic photography, film and, since the mid-1990s, new media. Histories and analysis of representations from many cultures are part of Visual Anthropology: research topics include sand paintings, tattoos, murals, sculptures and relief images, cave paintings, scrimshaw, jewelry, hieroglyphics, paintings and photographs. Also within the province of the subfield are studies of human vision, properties of media, the relationship of visual form and function, and applied, collaborative uses of visual representations.

Here are some digital image collections to get you thinking.

American Indians of the Pacific Northwest Collection
This site provides an extensive digital collection of original photographs and documents about the Northwest Coast and Plateau Indian cultures, complemented by essays written by anthropologists, historians, and teachers about both particular tribes and cross-cultural topics.
Atlantic Slave Trade and Slave Life in the Americas: A Visual Record
Over 1200 images selected from a wide range of sources from the period of slavery in the New World.
Chilean Protest Murals
Many hundreds of protest murals were created in Chile during the dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990). The photographer Andrés Romero Spethman worked alongside muralist brigades representing political parties such as the Partido Socialista and the Izquierda Cristiana. Created in and around Santiago between 1983 and 1990, the murals document the spirit, force, and iconography of political protest during an important period of Chilean history.
East Asia Image Collection
The East Asia Image Collection is an open-access archive of digitized photographs, negatives, postcards, and slides of imperial Japan (1868-1945), its Asian empire (1895-1945) and occupied Japan (1947-52). Images of Taiwan 台湾, Japan 日本, China 中国, Korea 朝鮮, Manchuria 満洲国, and Indonesia are included. - See more at: http://digital.lafayette.edu/collections/eastasia#sthash.1JvtsGoz.dpuf
Native American Ethnography
The Ethnographic collection at the New York State Museum includes about 3,500 objects of Native American art and material culture from tribes across North America with an emphasis on the Eastern Woodlands. It is most notable for Iroquoian and Algonquian material culture, including seminal mid-19th century Iroquois collections acquired by Lewis Henry Morgan and the early 20th century research and collections of Seneca anthropologist, Arthur C. Parker.
Tehran Propaganda Mural Collection
A part of daily life in contemporary Iran, propaganda murals appear throughout Tehran on both public and private buildings and contain powerful iconographic imagery. This selection of over 130 propaganda murals were photographed in the capital city during the summer of 2006.
Women Working, 1800-1930
Women Working, 1800–1930 is a digital exploration of women's impact on the economic life of the United States between 1800 and the Great Depression. Working conditions, workplace regulations, home life, costs of living, commerce, recreation, health and hygiene, and social issues are among the issues documented in this online research collection from Harvard University.

Journals

Anthrovision
AnthroVision is an electronic online journal dealing with visual anthropology and the anthropology of the visual in an emerging post-digital world characterised a diverse and constant influence of audio-visual forms of representation embedded in an increasingly complex network of media and visual communication practices. Published by the Visual Anthropology Network of the European Association of Social Anthropologists (VANEASA) to give an opportunity to colleagues from interdisciplinary background to publish articles including audiovisual material and to promote innovative ways of writing within an academic framework.
Visual Anthropology
Visual Anthropology is a scholarly journal presenting original articles, commentary, discussions, and film and book reviews on anthropological and ethnographic topics. The journal focuses on the study of human behavior through visual means. Experts in the field also examine visual symbolic forms from a cultural-historical framework and provide a cross-cultural study of art and artifacts. Visual Anthropology also promotes the study, use, and production of anthropological and ethnographic films, videos, and photographs for research and teaching.
Visual Anthropology Review
As the journal of the Society for Visual Anthropology, Visual Anthropology Review promotes the discussion of visual studies, broadly conceived. Within its breadth, visual anthropology includes both the study of visual aspects of cultural lives and experience, and the use of visual techniques and technologies in anthropological research, representation and teaching. The journal also highlights innovative forms of ethnographic production and anthropological practice that explore the potentialities of sensory scholarship.
Visual Ethnography
VISUAL ETHNOGRAPHY is a peer-reviewed journal dedicated to researches on 1) the production and use of images and audio-visual media in the socio-cultural practices; 2) digital cultures; 3) contemporary art and anthropology; 4) anthropology of art; 5) vision and gaze; 6) senses and culture; 7) objects, design, architecture and anthropology; 8) bodies and places in an anthropological perspective; 9) theories and methods in anthropology.

Books

Observational Cinema by Anna Grimshaw; Amanda Ravetz
Call Number: GN347 .G753 2009
ISBN: 9780253354242
Publication Date: 2009-11-17
Rethinking Visual Anthropology by Marcus Banks (Editor); Howard Morphy (Editor)
Call Number: GN347 .R45 1997
ISBN: 0300066910
Publication Date: 1997-06-25
Urban Youth and Photovoice by Melvin Delgado
Call Number: Online Access
ISBN: 0199381321
Publication Date: 2015-03-11
Principles of Visual Anthropology by Paul Hockings
Call Number: Online Access
ISBN: 311017930X
Publication Date: 2003-08-13
Media Worlds by Faye D. Ginsburg (Editor); Lila Abu-Lughod (Editor); Brian Larkin (Editor)
Call Number: P94.6 .M426 2002
ISBN: 9780520224483
Publication Date: 2002-10-23

Websites

Society for Visual Anthropology
The Society for Visual Anthropology (SVA) is a section of the American Anthropological Association. We promote the study of visual representation and media. Both research methods and teaching strategies fall within the scope of the society. SVA members are involved in all aspects of production, dissemination, and analysis of visual forms. Works in film, video, photography, and computer-based multimedia explore signification, perception, and communication-in-context, as well as a multitude of other anthropological and ethnographic themes.
Teaching Students to Legally Use Images Online
As our students create more and more digital products—blog posts, videos, podcasts, e-books—they should be using images to enhance them. This article presents different approaches students can take to add images to their written work, blog posts, videos, presentations, and other digital products.
Visual Anthropology.net
Visual Anthropology website that features international content, articles, book reviews and call for proposals for conference participation and article review.