Essay Example on Visual Ethnography: Taking Photography to the Next Level

Ethnography incorporates the interpretation as well as the organizations with the people's common way of life (Pink, 2001). The methodology is based on research and therefore when the research is done with the inclusion of video or film and photography, it entails visual photography. This is what was meant by Douglas Harper with the reflexivity or visual ethnography. According to Douglas, the use of reflexivity with the development of cell phone cameras and social media has meant that the aspect of photography has been virtually in development in the ancient world (Mannay, 2014).

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Harper has argued strongly for the inclusion of reflexivity into the visual representations of the people, places and social issues for several reasons. The main reason was that reflexivity and visual ethnography played a significant role in linking the empirical visual research where many of the strengths and weaknesses of the research based on the image were much evident from the start. Besides, Douglas Harper prefers visual ethnography since motion pictures, hypermedia, interactive reality as well as virtual reality is used (Mannay, 2014). In this case, it is beginning to confront the various revolutionary trends in image-making as well as image distribution. Visual ethnography has proven to be an elastic and also long-lasting intellectual movement. Douglas Harper used reflexivity to help in confronting the problematic revolutions in technology since the digital turn, camera ubiquity and the social media incorporates the primary subject matter.

Reflexivity can be linked to aerial photography in some of the aspects. First, in the aerial photography, the photographs are typically taken from the air; however, more is depicted to it than simply incorporating the use of a light aircraft and flying higher to take the desired photographs. Other than reflexivity, there are many of the aerial survey elements in aerial photography which is necessary for ensuring that there is the usefulness of the collection in the photography which is adequate to extrapolate what is needed out of it.

In visual ethnography, there is no difficulty in seeing the landscape elements that are seen on the ground; hence essential features cannot be missed easily. Reflexivity and aerial photography make it easy to access some landscape types which are vital to map. There are so many things that reflexivity adds to the interpretations of the aerial photographs of certain spaces. The photographic images through reflexivity are examined mainly for the identification of objects besides judging their significance (Mannay, 2012). Image interpretation is mainly used when giving a detailed interpretation of the aerial photos and giving their respective analyses. In this case, therefore, the aspect of reflexivity is essential in improving the analysis of the photographs taken through aerial photography.

Reflexivity can add a layer of meaning as well as interpretation to the aerial photographs, which would have been present if there was no practice of reflexivity. The reflexive photography is mainly suited in the study of the social change due to be capacity of documenting a scene with completeness as well as far greater speed. Reflexivity brings about the visual changes which can be subtle or even complicated hence making the virtually impossible in their documentation without using a camera with a freezing power. Thus photography especially the visual ethnography can be used in most the situations in comparison to other more conventional approaches. Reflexivity significance is dependent on the skills of the sociologists in drawing data from the images which have an interpretation basis concerning whatever is happening in any field socially.

References

Pink, S. (2001). More visualising, more methodologies: on video, reflexivity, and qualitative research. The Sociological Review, 49(4), 586-599. file:///C:/Users/admin/Downloads/The_Development_of_Visual_Sociology_A_view_from_th.pdfMannay, D. (2014). Visual Sociology. Douglas Harper, 2012, New York, Routledge, Pages 298, $45.95, ISBN 9780415778961. Visual Methodologies, 1(2), ix-xi.

Mannay, D. I. Visual Sociology (Harper, 2012). Visual Methodologies, 2(1), XI-IX. https://www.academia.edu/3506258/Introducing_visual_methods