Annual Review of Anthropology· 2012Q1· Review
Objects of Affect: Photography Beyond the Image
- 273citations
- Q1SCImago
- 2012year
Short summary
Anthropological analysis of photographs moves beyond visual content to consider their material properties and affective impact, demonstrating how photographs actively shape social relations.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Key points
- Material thinking shifts anthropological analysis of photographs beyond visual content.
- Photographs act as active agents within assemblages of objects ('placing').
- ID photography exemplifies material repurposing and remediation.
- Photographs are sensory objects, engaging tactility and orality, not just sight.
- Embodied, affective engagement with photographs is crucial for understanding their role in social relations.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
This review considers the impact and efficacy of material thinking in anthropological studies of photographs and photographic practices. Such analytical strategies have moved the analysis of photographs beyond that of the visual alone and illuminated the cultural work required of photographs. After reviewing key analytical positions of social biography, visual economy, and photography complex, I explore the material work of photographs through two registers: the idea of “placing”, in which photographs become active in assemblages of objects, and the processes of material repurposing and remediation of the humble ID photography. These strands are drawn together in the idea of a sensory photograph, entangled with orality, tactility, and haptic engagement. The article argues that photographs cannot be understood through visual content alone but through an embodied engagement with an affective object world, which is both constitutive of and constituted through social relations.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Annual Review of Anthropology, 2012 · DOI ↗
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Field: Visual Arts and Performing Arts
Visual Arts and Performing ArtsArts and Humanities