Tuesday 21 April 2009

Summary of Chapter 6

Chapter 6 – Visual Sociology, Documentary Photography and Photojournalism:
It’s (Almost) all a matter of Context by Howard S. Becker


Chapter six begins by discussing the ambiguous nature of photographs. This is a problem for social scientists who are trying to make sense of photographs in a world full of visual sociological meanings. Photographs taken by visual sociologists, documentary photographers and photojournalists can be very similar, but the way to understand the photographs is not to label them as a particular field, but to explore the response made by people looking at the photographs. This chapter discusses the importance of context in giving photographs their meaning (Becker 1998: 84).

Becker discusses the three similar fields of photography: visual sociology, documentary photography and photojournalism, which are often confused by people using photographic materials for social science purposes, now known as visual sociology. The meanings of these terms are socially constructed and change over time, they are dependent on the understanding of the people who label them and attribute certain meanings to them. The visual sociology images can resemble the two other fields and vice-versa (Becker 1998: 84).

Becker goes on to discuss the historical background of these terms, and how their meanings have changed over time. For example documentary photography does not mean the same thing as it did in the past. These fields get their meaning in a particular social context. However, there is no easy way to define either of these terms as their purpose changes depending on who is using the material and for what purposes (Becker 1998: 85-86).

Photographs get meaning from their context. The photographic fields discussed here usually provide social context for the photographs that they present. He contrasts this with art photography where the context of the photos is not often provided; it is left for people to interpret the images based on their own cultural understanding. The three photographic genres mentioned here usually provide enough background information so that people can understand them, one of the examples given is Bateson and Mead’s ‘Balinese Character’ where each photograph is accompanied by information to enable people to understand the social and historical background of the images. Documentary works and photographic books usually contain extensive information which highlights the social and historical background of the images. But it is usually more complicated than that, not all works provide a great deal of context. Some rely on the images, and the sequencing of images to provide their own context, which allows people to understand the images in their own way. His main point is that context gives images meaning; and if the work does not provide a suitable context then people will usually provide it from their own understanding (Becker 1998: 88-89).

Becker provides examples of how the three photographic genres could be interpreted as a genre other than they are supposed to be, for example reading a documentary picture as visual sociology or photojournalism, concentrating on an image entitled ‘En route from New York to Washington, Club Car’ by Robert Frank (Becker 1998: 89).

He concludes by restating his main areas of concern; that photographers try to put a label on what they are doing, but in the end it depends on how the person viewing the image relates to it. For sociologists, he says these examples are a warning against trying to label images as a specific photographic genre; it is the context that will provide understanding (Becker 1998: 94).





LIST OF REFERENCES

Becker, H. (1998) ‘Visual Sociology, Documentary Photography, and Photojournalism: It’s (Almost) All a Matter of Context’. In Image Based Research: A Sourcebook for Qualitative Researchers. Ed. by Prosser, J. Abingdon: RoutledgeFalmer: 84-96

Validity and Reliability in Visual Methods

Comment on Validity and Reliability in Visual Methods


Validity is the extent to which a method of research truly measures what it set out to and how accurate the results are (Golafshani 2003). Internal validity of a photo document requires: a considered selection of what to document, systematic and justified sampling and low reactivity from the subjects photographed. Validity considers not only the criteria used by a photographer to take a valid photo, but whether the criteria are employed consistently. The reliability of the data has to be proven before internal validity is achieved. Without reliable data, external validity would be discounted (Adelman 1998: 151).

Reliability is the extent to which a study can provide consistent results and an accurate representation of what is being studied. If results can be achieved again under similar circumstances then the research is considered reliable. Validity does not exist without reliability, validity has to be demonstrated sufficiently before reliability can be estimated (Golafshani 2003).

There are however a number of issues with these concepts. In visual methods the greatest threat to validity is not going down an unstable line of theorising, but having to account for photographic data that does not match the rules of sampling or data collection. One of the crucial problems of validating photos as evidence is to be able to account for the inclusion of particular context in the photograph (Adelman 1998: 152). Neither concept of validity or reliability is universal, many researchers in different fields have developed their own concepts of validity and reliability. Studies can also suffer from bias, and it is not unknown for researchers to affect the outcome of their data to validate their investigation. The involvement of the researcher’s perspectives can seriously reduce the validity of their hypothesis (Golafshani 2003).






LIST OF REFERENCES

Adelman, C. (1998) ‘Photocontext’. In Image-based Research: A Sourcebook for Qualitative Researchers. Ed. by Prosser, J. Abingdon: RoutledgeFalmer: 148-161

Golafshani, N. (2003) ‘Understanding Reliability and Validity in Qualitative Research’. The Qualitative Report [online] 8, (4) 597-607. Available from http://www.nova.edu/ssss/QR/QR8-4/golafshani.pdf [Accessed 5 April 2009]

A Comment on the Journalistic Image as Visual Sociology

The Journalistic Image as Visual Sociology


This section describes an image of Richard Nixon looking dejected as he walks along a carpet leading from the White House to a helicopter waiting outside. Richard Nixon is leaving the White House in shame after standing down as the President of the United States (Becker 1998: 93).

At the time this was a recognisable photograph to anyone in the world following the news. But like all other news photographs, it looses its meaning over time after the moment has passed. Today the image does not have the same connotations as it is no longer contemporary. People looking at the image today would not know what it signifies unless provided with the background and context of the image (Becker 1998: 93-94).

Interesting news photographs usually become documentary, but in this instance Becker questions whether the Nixon image could be part of a sociological analysis. One example he gives is that it could be used to study the way in which the media deal with political scandal using photographic evidence. A correct sociological analysis of this issue would be to compare photographs of Nixon at various points during his career. He would be a good subject for analysis because he was so well known and there are many photographic representations of him

However, no matter which type of label is placed on a photograph, it will still be read differently by people depending on their knowledge of the background information and context of the particular image (Becker 1998: 94).

LIST OF REFERENCES

Becker, H. (1998) ‘Visual Sociology, Documentary Photography, and Photojournalism: It’s (Almost) All a Matter of Context’. In Image Based Research: A Sourcebook for Qualitative Researchers. Ed. by Prosser, J. Abingdon: RoutledgeFalmer: 84-96