Understanding Social Images

Marcus Banks was one of the scholars who changed the way visual anthropology and visual methods were regarded in social and cultural anthropology. This collection of Banks’ essays considers the role of collaboration in the making of ethnographic films and makes the case for slow research. It discusses the meaning of anthropological research in film archives and illustrates how to analyse a wide range of visual material like maps, diagrams and enigmatic photographs. Howard Morphy’s afterword is written in response to the essays in the book and as a part of an interrupted dialogue with Marcus. It focuses on how visual anthropology’s distinctive methodology engages with the central theoretical issues of contemporary anthropology.