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Visual Sociology Visual sociology has been part of the sociological vocabulary since the 1970s, but until now there has not been a comprehensive text that introduces this area. Written by one of the founding fathers in the field, Visual Sociologyexplores how the world that is seen, photographed, drawn or otherwise represented visually is different from the world that is represented through words and numbers. Douglas Harper’s exceptional photography and engaging, lively writing style will introduce: • visual sociology as embodied observation; • visual sociology as semiotics; • visual sociology as an approach to data: empirical, narrative, phenomenological and reflexive; • visual sociology as an aspect of photo documentary; • visual sociology and multimedia. This definitive textbook is made up of eleven chapters on the key topics in visual sociology. With teaching and learning guidance, as well as clear, accessible explanations of current thinking in the field, this book will be an invaluable resource to all those with an interest in visual sociology, research methods, cultural geography, cultural theory or visual anthropology. Douglas Harperis Professor of Sociology at Duquesne University. He has published five books with the University of Chicago Press, which include innovative uses of photography as well as other qualitative methods. Harper has also edited or co-edited four books on visual sociology. He is the founding editor of Visual Studies, the official journal of the International Visual Sociology Association. He has published more than fifty chapters, articles and photo essays, and has been invited by more than 100 universities and academic societies in the US and abroad to lecture on qualitative methods and visual sociology. “The discipline of sociology owes (and will continue to owe for years to come) an immense debt to (the work of) Douglas Harper whose contributions to visual sociology have culminated in the (kind of) guide and guidance that this book provides. He has always been interested in the power of visual representation, not only in what is seen and less seen but also in who sees and who needs to see more. As a world- class ethnographer, Harper understands by intellect and experience how sociology (has been and) can be further enriched by the act of seeing. It does require at least one eye to see, but it should never be underestimated how much Harper’s commitment to improving the sociological vision arises from his heartfelt dedication to truth, beauty, and human dignity.” —Jonathan B. Imber, Wellesley College; Editor-in-Chief of Society “Harper’s book—comprehensive, imaginative, interesting—contains everything someone who wants to use visual imagery to understand society could want. Its clear, penetrating prose, carefully chosen photographs and profound understanding of the issues involved, show readers how to understand visual sociology and how to do it themselves.” —Howard S. Becker “With a deep knowledge of the documentary tradition and a passion for the visual, Doug Harper’s Visual Sociology beautifully demonstrates how photography and film provide a distinctive way of understanding and representing the many changing cultures of the everyday. Many talk and write about the relevance of the visual in understanding the human condition, but Doug Harper takes the most comprehensive and deep approach yet, giving us what will clearly become the defining text on the distinctive power of visual representations of culture, the opportunities of the visual in teaching and learning, and the profound lessons embedded in photographs. Harper’s eloquence and wisdom grows out of his own work as a photographer, fieldworker, and scholar. Visual Sociology is the result of years of looking, thinking, and careful study. For years to come Harper’s work will resonate with readers and teachers in many disciplines, and will be used by many with diverse interests and perspectives. It’s a brilliant work.” —Thomas S. Rankin, Director of the Center for Documentary Studies, Duke University Visual Sociology Douglas Harper First published 2012 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2012 Douglas Harper The right of Douglas Harper to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Harper, Douglas A. Visual sociology/Douglas Harper. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Visual sociology. I. Title. HM500.H37 2012 301 –dc23 2012000150 ISBN: 978-0-415-77895-4 (hbk) ISBN: 978-0-415-77896-1 (pbk) ISBN: 978-0-203-87267-3 (ebk) Typeset in Univers by Florence Production Ltd, Stoodleigh, Devon For Colter Jesse Harper, who sees interesting things Contents List of figures ix List of tables xii Acknowledgments xiii Introduction 1 1 Visual ethnography 8 2 Documentary photography 18 3 Reflexivity 39 4 The visual sociology of space from above, inside and around 56 5 Comparing societies 88 6 Ethnomethodology, semiotics and the subjective 111 7 Multimedia and visual sociology 141 8 Photo elicitation 155 9 Photovoice 188 10 Teaching sociology visually 207 11 Final words 243 Appendix I: Teaching overview and sample assignments 246 Appendix II: Notes on photographic technology 253 Appendix III: Sources 256 Notes 263 Index 289 Contents vii Figures I.1 Women washing clothes near the caves of Adjunta and Ellora 2 I.2 Homeless woman and child 3 1.1 Herbert Underwood, a farmer, pruning trees in his apple orchard, Wallingford, Vermont 10 3.1 A bottle gang in Boston 40 3.2 Havre, Montana. The tramps were heading toward the fruit and vegetable harvests in the far west 41 3.3 Three to four hundred men jam into the Pine Street Inn, a homeless mission 43 3.4 The diner was the only place in the city center open at 5:30 a.m. 44 3.5 At noon we lined up for a chit to enter the mission at 5 p.m. 44 3.6 Freight yard with brakeman 46 3.7 Carl inside boxcar 46 3.8 As we approached the harvest area, Carl shaved and washed up 47 3.9 After several days of traveling we relaxed in a jungle in Wenatchee 48 3.10 We boarded a bull local for the ride up the Okanagan River 49 3.11 Jungle in late afternoon 49 3.12 The employment office for temporary agricultural workers, Brewster, Washington 50 3.13 Apples, which I became adept at picking 50 3.14 The freight back. After several weeks of work, I headed back to Boston 51 4.1 Craft farm 60 4.2 Hybrid craft/industrial farm 60 4.3 Industrial farm, form one 63 4.4 Industrial farm, form two 63 4.5 Retired farm, Jim and Emily Fisher 64 4.6 Abandoned farm 64 4.7 Buck and Carmen 66 Figures ix 4.8 Freestall barn, industrial farm 67 4.9 Stanchion barn interior, craft farm 67 4.10 Bologna, Sunday afternoon without motorized traffic, 1988 73 4.11 Piazza Maggiore from Google Earth 75 4.12 An elderly man studies photos of partisans, victims of Nazi violence 77 4.13 Teens in the partisan memorial area 77 4.14 Neptune as a resting place 78 4.15 Mimes busking 78 4.16 The hidden piazza 79 4.17 The steps and entrance to Basilica di San Petronio, unimpeded 80 4.18 Steps as stage for protest 81 4.19 Altered entrance 81 4.20 The portico area as liminal space 82 4.21 Facing southeast; in the foreground the restaurant; background center San Petronio 83 4.22 Facing northwest; overlooking the steps of the cathedral 83 4.23 A tourist alone in a transformed piazza 84 4.24 The outdoor movie screen 85 5.1 Coffin rest, Lake District, UK 89 5.2 Graveyard, northwestern UK 89 5.3 1970: Soo Line Railroad, Ewen, Michigan 92 5.4 1990: Abandoned railroad, Ewen, Michigan 93 5.5 2005: Location of former Soo Line railroad and station, Ewen, Michigan 94 5.6 Peasants in the grape harvest, mezzadriasystem, mid-central Italy 102 5.7 Peasants in the latifondisystem, southern Italy 103 5.8 Parmigiano grader, Emilia Romagna, Italy 104 5.9 Hong Kong: high-rise slum 106 5.10 Hong Kong: high-rise capitalism 107 5.11 Hong Kong life 108 5.12 Mong Kok market 108 5.13 Downtown Hong Kong, two banking interns from the UK 109 6.1 Willie’s hands on the file, close up 113 6.2 Sidé’s hands on the roller 114 6.3 Street scene, Shenzen, China 117 6.4 Man with many bananas 121 6.5 Aggressive Italian ad 122 6.6 On the right is a swimsuit and on the left is a personal ad by a transvestite 122 6.7 PPG Place, Pittsburgh 124 6.8 Palazzo della Civiltá Italiana (Square Colosseum), EUR, Rome 125 6.9 Free-standing bas-relief depicting an idealized vision of rural life in a fascist society, EUR, Rome 126 x Figures 6.10 Mosaic, Foro Italico, Rome 127 6.11 Mussolini’s name still adorns the 130 foot obelisk at Foro Italico 128 6.12 Bas-relief sculpture, which places Mussolini atop a horse 129 6.13 X-ray with pacemaker 136 6.14 Mind-map, post-brain injury 137 6.15 Train ride from Basel to Zurich (1) 138 6.16 Train ride from Basel to Zurich (2) 139 6.17 Train ride from Basel to Zurich (3) 140 7.1 Dialectical materialism 150 7.2 Re-engineered Saab door handle 152 7.3 Visual overview of silo blower 153 8.1 Lighting up the Rosebud 161 8.2 Welding the new bumper to the tractor 163 8.3 Willie cuts an arch from the metal ring 163 8.4 Willie trims the arch to match the width of the bumper 165 8.5 The tractor, three years later, about to power a saw 166 8.6 Gathering corn for ensilage, Brooklea Farm, Kanona, New York 168 8.7 Farm hands at dinner on the Shaughnessy farm, Warsaw, New York 169 8.8 Balancing light from strobe with natural light 175 8.9 Hands on the wrench 176 8.10 “I’ve noticed that the house is filled with mementos, you know” 178 10.1 Urban ghetto in Iceland 210 10.2 Main street, Clairton, Pennsylvania 211 10.3 Nudging into traffic, Rome 216 10.4 The transformation of two lanes to three, Rome 216 10.5 Creative merging, Rome 216 10.6 Vietnam war protest, St. Paul, Minnesota, 1970 221 10.7 Trapped in words 226 10.8 Son dancing (1) 226 10.9 Son dancing (2) 226 10.10Son dancing (3) 226 10.11Portrait in leaves 227 10.12Light beyond 227 10.13Perseverance: artificial insemination 227 10.14Becoming Mom 228 10.15Transformation of past to present 228 11.1 Three farmers 245 Figures xi