Camera ethnography differs from documentary approaches to camera use, which assume visibility can be taken for granted. Camera ethnography is concerned with the experimental generation of epistemic things. This book is the first to present a comprehensive account of this innovative methodology, and traces its theoretical genesis as well as providing numerous practical examples. Key terms such as Blickschneise, Beobachtungsschnittstelle, Blickdifferenz and Blicklabor draw attention to the positionality of researchers in different situations. As a situated methodology and reflexive ethnography, camera ethnography incites researchers to recognize not only the ways in which their own research practices are differently situated than the practices under investigation, but also to make productive use of what emerges at the intersection of both practices.
ISBN: 978-3-8376-3531-7
Distribution via transcript Verlag
Reader’s comment
“My immediate reaction was to wish that I had ten more years of teaching ahead of me and that I already had an English version of the book to hand, because of course I would read this book with graduate students. With this book, in conjunction with her films, Bina Mohn has created a completely independent school and steered the possibilities of research with the camera in completely new directions – grounded in a highly interesting and elaborate theory and methodology, especially with the detailed examination of Wittgenstein and Rheinberger and the way in which Bina makes their ideas productive for camera ethnography. This book proposes wonderful new ways to analyze the perceptible material and social world that will be invaluable for many researchers, especially younger ones.”
Jürgen Streeck, The University of Texas at Austin (USA)