Visual Sociology

Description

This new version of the authoritative textbook in the field of visual sociology focuses on the key topics of documentary photography, visual ethnography, collaborative visual research, visual empiricism, the study of the visual symbol and teaching sociology visually. This updated and expanded edition includes nearly twice as many images and incorporates new in-depth case studies, drawing upon the author’s lifetime of pioneering research and teaching as well as the often neglected experiences of women and people of color. The book examines how documentary photography can be useful to sociologists, both because of the topics examined by documentarians and as an example of how seeing is socially constructed. Harper describes the exclusion of women through much of the history of documentary photography and the distinctiveness of the female eye in recent documentary, a phenomenon he calls "the gendered lens". The author examines how a visual approach allows sociologists to study conventional topics differently, while offering new perspectives, topics and insights. For example, photography shows us how perspective itself affects what we see and know, how abstractions such as "ideal types" can be represented visually, how social change can be studied visually and how the study of symbols can lead us to interpret public art, architecture and person-made landscapes. There is an extended study of how images can lead to cooperative research and learning; how images can serve as bridges of understanding, blurring the lines between researcher and researched. The important topic of reflexivity is examined by close study of Harper’s own research experiences. Finally, the author focusses on teaching, offering templates for full courses, assignments and projects, and guides for teachers imagining how to approach visual sociology as a new practice. This definitive yet accessible textbook will be indispensable to teachers, researchers and professionals with an interest in visual sociology, research methods, cultural theory and visual anthropology. https://www.routledge.com/9781032171098 Cover Endorsement Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Table of Contents Figures Tables Acknowledgments Introduction Preface to the Second Edition Notes 1 Documentary Photography and Visual Sociology Introduction Early History P.H. Emerson Jacob Riis The 1930s John Heartfield Bill Brandt FSA Documentary in the 1950s and 1960s The War in Vietnam Social Movements Bruce Jackson The Once and Present Future of Documentary The Gendered Lens Contemporary Women Documentarians Susan Meiselas LaToya Ruby Frazier In Conclusion Notes 2 Visual Ethnography Overview Balinese Character Post-Balinese Character Rail Tramps and Homelessness Reflexivity in Context Modern Examples of Reflexive Visual Ethnography Righteous Dopefiend Sidewalk Studying Arapaho Reservation Life Recent Visual Ethnography Examples From the Journal Visual Ethnography Photo Essays and Self-Contained Visual Ethnographies Filmic Sociology and Visual Ethnography Summary Notes 3 Visual Research Collaboration Overview Photo Elicitation Willie’s Working Knowledge Studying Farmers Photo Elicitation Research With Archives Photo Elicitation in Cross-Cultural Research Who Should Take the Photos? Summary Photovoice: Introduction New Participatory Methods Doing PhotoVoice: A Conversation Between Karijn Kakebeeke and Douglas Harper Project 1: Malawi Project 2: Holland, Point of View Postscript Conclusion [Harper] Notes 4 Visual Facts Overview Comparing Farm Systems Visually Visual Triangulation Why Aerial Photos? Why Photos at All? Comparing Housing Interiors Comparing Neighborhoods The Visual Study of Social Life in a City Piazza Maggiore: Studying a City Center Into the Piazza Change Further Visual Studies of Social Change Interpreting the Subjective Seeing and Recording Sight Summary Notes 5 Visual Symbols The Photo, Punctum and Studium Overview Signifier, Signified, Sign and Smoking in LIFE Do Italians See Fascism in Roman Buildings and Art? Signs and Myths in Urban Public Art Five Themes in the Study of Public Art Case Studies in Public Art The Vietnam Veterans Memorial George Washington/Guyasuta: Whitewash in Bronze Remembering Those Who Die Homeless On the Streets of Edmonton Summary Notes 6 Teaching Visually Overview and Contexts Learning to Read Photos How Does the Camera Affect the Message Ethics Courses On Visual Sociology: Starting at the Present, Looking Back Where It Began Adding a Visual Dimension to Conventional Courses Workshops Lectures Assignments: the Taken for Granted Urban Spaces Semiotics Social Organization Teaching Collaborative Methods Literacy Through Photography Self-portraiture Without Self Teaching Theory With Feature Films Using Feature Films as Texts Filming Sociology: Teaching Sociology By Teaching How to Make Films The Golden Nugget Notes Select Bibliography Index