Relationships with Participants/Subjects

Relationships with participants

J. Lydall, I. Strecker, Men and women on both sides of the camera, in: M. Postma, e. Peter I. Crawford (Eds.) Reflecting Visual Ethnography: Using the Camera in Anthropological Research CNWS Publications Leiden, 2006.  Think about what this says about the kinds of participants and relationships you’re likely to encounter. They talk in particular about gender issues, but we’ll focus on the kinds of similarities and differences between us and our participants that may be relevant.

A review of this book says of this chapter:
The third section, “Sociality,” explores the relationships between those behind and in front of the camera during filming, as well as cultural understandings of personhood and status underlying social processes. Chapter 7, by Jean Lydall and Ivo Strecker, is one of the strongest in the volume. Emphasizing the role of the relationship and rapport between filmmakers and those being filmed, and succinctly addressing key topics revealed by the authors’ use of film in ethnography, this chapter takes an important step toward demystifying the multiplexed roles and agendas of all participants in ethnographic filming.

T. Clark, On ‘being researched’: why do people engage with qualitative research?, Qualitative Research, 10 (2010) pp. 399-419.

Lutz, C., & Collins, J. (2003). The Photograph as an Intersection of Gazes: the example of National Geographic. The photography reader (pp. 354-374).