Understanding Social Images
Essays on Visual Methods and Teaching Anthropology
Published on 1. June 2025
Book
Hardback
206 pages
978-1-83695-006-6 (ISBN)
Description
Marcus Banks was one of the scholars who changed the way visual anthropology and visual methods were regarded in social and cultural anthropology. This collection of Banks' essays considers the role of collaboration in the making of ethnographic films and makes the case for slow research. It discusses the meaning of anthropological research in film archives and illustrates how to analyse a wide range of visual material like maps, diagrams and enigmatic photographs. Howard Morphy's afterword is written in response to the essays in the book and as a part of an interrupted dialogue with Marcus. It focuses on how visual anthropology's distinctive methodology engages with the central theoretical issues of contemporary anthropology.
Reviews / Votes
"This book ambitiously addresses a wide array of topics, including ethical issues and presents a diverse range of perspectives." * Aleksandra Gracjasz, Leiden UniversityMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Library binding
Illustrations
Bibliography; Index; 30 Illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 157 mm
Thickness: 16 mm
Weight
473 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-83695-006-6 (9781836950066)
DOI
10.3167/978136950066
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Marcus Banks | David Zeitlyn | Chihab El Khachab
Understanding Social Images
Essays on Visual Methods and Teaching Anthropology
E-Book
06/2025
1st Edition
Berghahn Books
€24.49
Available for download
Marcus Banks | David Zeitlyn | Chihab El Khachab
Understanding Social Images
Essays on Visual Methods and Teaching Anthropology
E-Book
06/2025
1st Edition
Berghahn Books
€24.49
Available for download
Persons
Marcus Banks was Professor of Visual Anthropology at the Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology (ISCA), University of Oxford until he passed away in 2020. He was a pioneer in integrating visual approaches into the mainstream of social and cultural anthropology. With Howard Morphy, he edited the influential volume Rethinking Visual Anthropology (Yale University Press, 1999).
Content
List of Illustrations
Notes on Text
Part I: Introductions
Introduction: Tracing a Trajectory
David Zeitlyn and Chihab El Khachab
Chapter 1. Visual Anthropology: Image, Object and Interpretation
Part II: Raju and His Friends
Chapter 2. Forty-Minute Fieldwork: 2a Raju Film Synopsis as Box Insert
Chapter 3. Reclaiming a Soul Stolen by the Camera
Chapter 4. Revisiting Raju
Part III: Photo-Elicitation and Image Analysis
Chapter 5. Analysing Images
Chapter 6. Photography, Memory, and Affect: Two Fragments from the History of an Indian City Chapter 7. Slow Research: Exploring One's Own Visual Archive
Part IV: Archives and Visual Research
Chapter 8. An Anthropologist in the Film Archives: Interdisciplinary Approaches
Chapter 9. Visual Anthropology: Image Technologies in the Field
Chapter 10. What Can We Learn from Visual Methods?
Afterword: After Marcus: Visual Methods, Visual Pedagogies
Howard Morphy
Index
Notes on Text
Part I: Introductions
Introduction: Tracing a Trajectory
David Zeitlyn and Chihab El Khachab
Chapter 1. Visual Anthropology: Image, Object and Interpretation
Part II: Raju and His Friends
Chapter 2. Forty-Minute Fieldwork: 2a Raju Film Synopsis as Box Insert
Chapter 3. Reclaiming a Soul Stolen by the Camera
Chapter 4. Revisiting Raju
Part III: Photo-Elicitation and Image Analysis
Chapter 5. Analysing Images
Chapter 6. Photography, Memory, and Affect: Two Fragments from the History of an Indian City Chapter 7. Slow Research: Exploring One's Own Visual Archive
Part IV: Archives and Visual Research
Chapter 8. An Anthropologist in the Film Archives: Interdisciplinary Approaches
Chapter 9. Visual Anthropology: Image Technologies in the Field
Chapter 10. What Can We Learn from Visual Methods?
Afterword: After Marcus: Visual Methods, Visual Pedagogies
Howard Morphy
Index