Analysis of Visual Data

Conceptual Overview and Discussion

The development of mechanical reproduction of reality through the photograph lent itself to a scientific-realist view of the world, well captured in the expression,“the camera does not lie.” The scientific-realist view considered the photo as an exact representation of reality and as evidence rather than as an interpretation. Captions were often added to photos to direct viewers' attention to what was “meant” by the contents of the photo. This view of the photograph, still used in documentary work, is diminishing in scholarly research. Photographers themselves recognized the differences produced through different camera settings as well as through the manipulation of the printing process, which is even more extreme given the current visual technologies available. Captions represent but one way of understanding a photo. Experience in the field highlights the role of theory and of restrictions governing the production of a photo, which ultimately shapes what is represented. The photograph, then, is not simply a “window” on reality, but rather an interpretation, one particular viewpoint among many.

Sources of visual data include archives and the production of images in the research setting itself. Archival images, which were produced for other purposes, can be interrogated as to their intended meaning in their time, how they were made, the content of the image including what is missing, their link to accompanying text as well as other texts, and how audiences over time have interpreted them. Occasionally, it may be possible to interview persons depicted in archival images, essentially creating an opportunity for photo elicitation, described below. Such scrutiny of archival visual data can produce important narratives that are counter to those espoused in the archival record.

Images produced in the research setting can be a powerful method for gaining new understanding since they are particularly suited to “seeing” people and social phenomena in a new light. Deeply held assumptions cause us to see things in a certain way; visual data are able to facilitate seeing differently. Photo elicitation and photo voice are two ways researchers can use photography to overcome their own assumptions in the research setting.

Photo elicitation is a variation of open-ended interviewing where photographs are used to elicit [Page 19]the cultural insider's understanding of what is in the photo. The researcher, in taking photographs, comes to realize his or her lack of knowledge of what is contained culturally in the photo. Overcoming this requires, first, being self-aware: How am I approaching this situation and why am I photographing this particular content in this particular way? At the same time, it requires being an informed participant observer, where the researcher immerses him- or herself in the cultural world under investigation. Finally, having taken the photo, the photographer must now elicit from the cultural insider an understanding of what is in the photo and what was omitted. Roles are reversed as the researcher becomes the listener/student and the subject becomes the instructor. That which is taken for granted in the subject's world is explicated for the researcher, who often is unaware of what is “in” the photo. In this way, the voices of insiders are heard and the photo becomes an explication of their world rather than the author's limited understanding of that world. The subjectivity of those who inhabit the cultural world under investigation becomes more explicit.

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