Ethnographers have been visually documenting their research for over a century, and as sound equipment and cameras become increasingly affordable, more ethnographers are able to use these tools to supplement or even replace text-based accounts of research. From the seminal 1922 film Nanook of the North to the experimental works of Harvard’s Sensory Ethnography Lab, visual ethnography has sought to balance the accessibility of film with the rigors of academic research. The Ethnography Lab’s visual ethnography group aims to offer hands-on experience in visual research documentation and to promote a thorough understanding of the conceptual, ethical, and stylistic issues involved in this continually evolving methodology. We focus primarily on audio-visual methods, but photography, new media, and other visual input is welcomed.
More information about either subgroup can be found under the visual ethnography’s “Events & Meetings” tab in the main menu.
We welcome the involvement of students, filmmakers, and anyone interested in visual ethnography. For inquiries on this interest group please contact Maya El Helou at maya.elhelou@mail.utoronto.ca or Andrew Gilbert at andrew.gilbert@utorono.ca
Friday, February 7, 2020 | 1:00 PM 3:00 PMSpeaker: Maya El Helou, PhD Student, Department of Anthropology, The University of Toronto This workshop proposes experimenting with collage as a medium of making sense out of the mess of social theory. It continues an initiative begun last year of informal workshops designed to encourage ethnographers to experiment with different mediums to enhance their engagement—visually … Continue reading
February 13, 5-7 PM: This meeting will be a discussion of the affordances of sequential art for ethnography. We will develop an analytic language through a reading of selections from Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud and Unflattening by Nick Sousanis. For more information, including about how to get copies of the readings, contact the group conveners: Maya El Helou at maya.elhelou@mail.utoronto.ca or Andrew Gilbert … Continue reading
Friday, January 31, 2020 | Workshop 1:00-3:00PM, AP330, Launch 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM AP246, Anthropology Building 19 Russell St. Please join the Ethnography Lab’s Senior Researcher Dr. Andrew Gilbert, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, U of T, for a workshop on the possibility of communicating ethnographic research in forms other than text, i.e. photo, video, … Continue reading
Please join Ethnography Lab’s Senior Researcher Dr. Andrew Gilbert on Friday, January 31, 2020. This is a workshop designed for anyone who will be conducting ethnographic research and is interested in the possibility of communicating that research in forms other than text, i.e. photo, video, graphic and sequential arts, audio, etc. The focus will be on how to prepare … Continue reading
Participants: Andrew Gilbert, Larisa Kurtovic, Boris Stapic Join anthropologists Andrew Gilbert (McMaster) and Larisa Kurtovic (uOttawa) and Sarajevo-based graphic artist Boris Stapic as they discuss their ongoing collaborative research project which aims to tell the story of a successful worker campaign in the northern Bosnian city of Tuzla as a graphic ethnography. They will discuss … Continue reading
The Connaught Global Challenge Initiative, Entangled Worlds: Sovereignty, Sanctities and Soils, in collaboration with Visual Ethnography Group of the Ethnography Lab will be hosting a practical workshop on visual ethnography with Dr. Roger Canals Vilageliu, University of Barcelona. Dr. Canals Vilageliu is a visual anthropologist who has done ethnographic film and photography projects on the religious cult … Continue reading
The Commercialized Contemporary Public Art Scene in Toronto This winter 2019, UofT anthropology and English major Maisha Mustanzir will be hosting a collective research project and workshop series dedicated to understanding the commercialization of Toronto’s public art scene from an ethnographic perspective. The first meeting for this group will take place on Thursday, March 21st, … Continue reading
This winter (2019), the Ethnography Lab Visual Ethnography group will be hosting a series of informal workshops designed to encourage ethnographers to experiment with different mediums to enhance their engagement visually and politically with their work. One of the themes for winter 2019 is “Putting the Graphic in the Ethnographic.” The first thematic workshop proposes … Continue reading
Project Feedback Session December 6th, 5-8pm Ethnography Lab Seminar Room 330 The Ethnography Lab Visual Ethnography group is inviting you to an informal project feedback session. This is an opportunity to present and discuss visual ethnography projects in any stage of completion. A range of visual media is encouraged, including photography, film and video, digital … Continue reading
The Ethnography Lab’s visual ethnography group aims to offer hands-on experience in visual research documentation and to promote a thorough understanding of the conceptual, ethical, and stylistic issues involved in this continually evolving methodology. We focus primarily on audio-visual methods, but photography, new media, and other visual input is welcomed. This fall (2016) we will … Continue reading
Ethnography Lab 