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Photography Dissertation Topics

Published by Carmen Troy at January 4th, 2023 , Revised On August 11, 2023

If you are an avid photographer and wish to spend your life doing something that you love, which is obviously photography, you must be thinking about pursuing it further. To become an expert and professional photographer, you will need to study it formally. While many people claim that they can become experts without admission to an institution, you must remember that the basic things you learn from an expert teacher and practice it under his guidance will help you understand and explore photography more than your imagination.

Anyhow, if you have made the right decision of being admitted into a photography course, you must be anxious to graduate and practice it professionally. Hold up! You will need to go through one final phase of writing a dissertation.

If you are supposed to write a photography dissertation but do not really know where to start, you can have a look at some of the most exciting and debatable photography topics suggested by experts.

You may also want to start your dissertation by requesting a brief research proposal from our writers on any of these topics, which includes an introduction to the problem, research question , aim and objectives, literature review , along with the proposed methodology of research to be conducted. Let us know if you need any help in getting started.

Check our example dissertation to get an idea of how to structure your dissertation .

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2022 Photography Dissertation Topics

Topic 1: an evaluation of the impact of digitalisation on the altering conceptions and communication of contemporary photography..

Research Aim: The research aims to evaluate the impact of digitalisation on the altering conceptions and communication of contemporary photography.

Objectives:

To analyse the concept of contemporary photography.
To evaluate the influence of digitalisation photographic conceptions and communication.
To evaluate the impact of digitalisation on the altering conceptions and communication of contemporary photography.

Topic 2: Investigating the influence of digital photography evolution on the photography methods and affinity towards the profession.

Research Aim: The research aims to investigate the influence of digital photography evolution on the photography methods and affinity towards the profession.

To analyse the impact of digital tools and technologies on photography as a profession.
To identify the evolution in photographic methods and the perceptions towards photography as a profession.
To investigate the influence of digital photography evolution on the photography methods and affinity towards the profession.

Topic 3: An evaluation of the present technologies and cultural methods associated with snapshot photography.

Research Aim: The research aims to evaluate the present technologies and cultural methods associated with snapshot photography.

To analyse the concept of snapshot photography and identify the available technologies.
To evaluate the cultural and social contributions to snapshot photography.
To investigate the impact of present technologies and cultural methods on snapshot photography

Topic 4: Evaluating the impact of visual storytelling on the changing landscape of mass media and society.

Research Aim: The research aims to evaluate the impact of visual storytelling on the changing landscape of mass media and society.

To analyse the concept of applications of visual storytelling.
To examine the alterations in the mass media and societal landscape due to the new forms of photography and presentation.
To investigate the impact of visual storytelling on the changing landscape of mass media and society.

Topic 5: An investigation into the impact of mobile technology on the choices of photojournalism and its associated professional values in society.

Research Aim: The research aims to investigate the impact of mobile technology on the choices of photojournalism and its associated professional values in society.

To analyse the impact of mobile technology on the scope and extent of photography.
To investigate the photojournalism choices of invidious and the accepted professional societal values.
To critically evaluate the impact of mobile technology on the choices of photojournalism and its associated professional values in society.

Topic no.1: photojournalism during Arab spring

Research Aim: Arab spring was a series of anti-govt protests that spread all around the Arab countries in the 2010s. The role of photographers was exceptionally crucial at that point when they were continuously informing the world about the ground realities of the conflict. The aim of the research is to study the role of photojournalists in disseminating accurate information during the Arab spring.

Topic no.2: Scope of photography in the age of social media

Research Aim: Photography was a supplementary hobby and interest, but today it is a full-fledged profession that many aspire to pursue. Photography has gained immense importance, especially in the age of the internet, given that it provides many channels for sharing. The main aim of the research would be to examine and evaluate the scope of photography in the age of social media.

Topic no.3: Photography and ethics

Research Aim: No matter what you take as a subject of photography, you must never avoid the basic ethical norms suggested for photography. The aim of the research will be to study different cases in which the photographers followed and violated the ethics to understand the consequences of each regard.

Topic no.4: Photography and the reflection of culture

Research Aim: Each photographer has his own style, which is usually influenced by many things. This research will study culture as one of the determining factors that affect the style of photography. The research will thoroughly explain the reflection of the photographer’s culture in his photography.

Topic no.5: Photography and advanced editing trend

Research Aim: There are many tools that help us make an image more appealing by making significant modifications. The research aims to explore and identify the impact of advanced editing software and tools on the essence of photography.

Topic no.6: Impact of photo manipulation and self-image

Research Aim: Artificial intelligence has gone so far ahead in advancement that it is able to do anything, merely anything. The prompt changes in the physical features while taking photos are exciting, but on the other hand, they are very harmful. People make themselves look appealing through filters, but when they look at themselves, in reality, they lose their self-esteem. The research will aim to study photo manipulation and its impacts on self-image.

Topic no.7: Art of photography in the 1800s

Research Aim: The main aim of the research would be to discover, understand, and evaluate the art of photography in the 1800s. It is evident that photography would be completely different back in those times, but how much different is a question that the research will address.

Also Read: How to Write Dissertation Aims and Objectives?

Topic no.8: Role of director of photography in a movie

Research Aim: When we watch a movie, we heap praises on the actors, story, and songs, but we do not realize the leading individual behind the lens who makes it look the way it does and connect to the audience. If the audience feels emotional, it is the art of camera work that makes a scene emotional, and it goes for all scenes such as dramatic, happy, and anxious. The main aim of the research is to vastly study the role of the director of photography in a movie.

Topic no.9: Photojournalism during the pandemic

Research Aim: The current pandemic posed severe threats to humans economically, politically, and societaly. People were circumscribed to their homes due to the surging infected toll. The main aim of the research would be to find out how photojournalists documented covid-19.

Topic no.10: Instagram; a photo-sharing medium

Research Aim: The broad aim of the research would be to study and evaluate Instagram as one of the most popular photo-sharing mediums. It will explore and analyze the thriving trends and the nature of images that are considered instagrammable by photographers.

Topic no.11: Photography and storytelling

Research Aim: Photographs are not merely images but are capable of telling stories if they are being taken rightly. The researcher will take a sample of a few images and critically analyze how they are capable of delivering impactful stories.

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Topic no.12: Risks of wildlife photography:

Research Aim: While wildlife photography is one of the fascinating types of photography, it requires lots of guts and passion for pursuing. The research will identify the most common problems wildlife photographers face and what security services are offered to the photographers working for an organization.

Topic no.13: Photography vs. painting

Research Aim: The main aim of the research is to compare and contrast photography and painting and figure- out the similarities and differences. It will also determine the best one amongst them with respect to different variables such as depth, story, flexibility, etc.

Topic no.14: Trends in wedding photography

Research Aim: Wedding photography has improved and has become creatively advanced in the last few years. The aim of the research would be to identify and analyze the current trends in wedding photography and forecast the ones for the upcoming years.

Topic no.15: Nature photography:

Research Aim: Nature photography is a vast field that incorporates multiple types. The aim of the research is to study nature photography in detail and explore the features and techniques of each type.

Topic no.16: Evolution of camera

Research Aim: Nowadays, we use our smartphone cameras; some years back, digital cameras were commonly used, and in that way, it goes way back to giant cameras. The main of the research would be to critically analyze and evaluate the evolution of the camera over the period of time.

Topic no.17: Photography lenses and specialties

Research Aim: Lenses are the hearts of cameras, and therefore, cameras are unuseful without lenses. The research will aim to check and evaluate the different types of lenses and offer true insights into their capabilities.

Topic no.18: Improvements required in photography

Research Aim: The research will aim to identify and discuss the major problems in photography that need to be addressed. The researcher can survey different photographers and figure out the improvements that they spire to see in the field of photography.

Topic no.19: Photo manipulation and their repercussions:

Research Aim: Photo alterations and manipulations have become very easy with the different tools and software. They, on the high levels, are used for political gains and propaganda. The aim of the research would be to explain the repercussions of photo manipulations and alterations. The researcher can conduct case studies to find the most accurate results.

Topic no.20: War photography:

Research Aim: War photography is not less intimidating than wildlife photography; in fact, it is more dangerous. The aim of the research would be to explain photographs taken in war situations. The researcher can pick a couple of different wars from the recent timeline and provide critical analysis.

Conducting photography research can be one of the most exciting things, but when it comes to writing, students become dreadful. But do not worry, we have got your back. Whether you want a section of the dissertation to be written impeccably or the whole of it, we are here. Don’t wait; click here.

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Frequently Asked Questions

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To find a photography dissertation topic:

Explore genres, history, or techniques.
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Chair: Marcia Landy (English)
Readers: Mark Lynn Anderson (English), Adam Lowenstein (English), Dan Morgan (Cinema and Media Studies, University of Chicago)
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Readers: Mark Lynn Anderson (English), Neepa Majumdar (English), Randall Halle (German), Dan Morgan (Cinema and Media Studies, University of Chicago)
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Kelly Trimble

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Readers: Vladimir Padunov (Slavic), Randall Halle (German), Daniel Morgan (Cinema and Media Studies, University of Chicago)
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Readers: Mark Lynn Anderson (English), William Chase (History), Nancy Condee (Slavic), Randall Halle (German)

Anne Wesserling , Visiting Assistant Professor, University of North Georgia

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Readers: John Beverley (Hispanic Languages & Literature), Gonzalo Lamana (Hispanic Languages & Literature), Adam Lowenstein (English)
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Gavin M. Hicks

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Readers: Mark Lynn Anderson (English), Adam Lowenstein (English), Brenton J. Malin (Communications)

Christopher Nielsen , Educator, Institute for Health and Socioeconomic Policy/National Nurses United

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Readers: John Beverley (Hispanic Languages & Literature), Joshua Lund (Hispanic Languages & Literature), Giuseppina Mecchia (French & Italian)
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Olga Kilmova , Visiting Lecturer, University of Pittsburgh

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Yahya Laayouni , Assistant Professor of Arabic and French, Bloomsberg University of Pennsylvania

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Readers: Lucy Fischer (English), Adam Lowenstein (English), Giuseppina Mecchia (French & Italian)
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Readers: Marcia Landy (English), Adam Lowenstein (English), Randall Halle (German)
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Natalia Maria Ramirez-Lopez ,

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Chair: Hermann Herlinghaus (Latin American Literature, University of Freiburg)
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Dawn Seckler , Associate Director of Development, Bridgeway Capital

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Readers: Adam Lowenstein (English), Colin MacCabe (English), Nancy Condee (Slavic Languages and Literatures)
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Readers: Paul Bové (English), Lucy Fischer (English), Linda Shulte-Sasse (German, McAllister College)
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Readers: Paul Bové (English); Eric Clarke (English); Colin MacCabe (English); M. Prasad (Film Theory, Central Institute of English and Foreign Languages, Hyderabad)
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Chair: Philip Smith (English)
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Chair: Colin MacCabe (English)
Readers: Ronald Judy (English), Jonathan Arac , Nancy Condee (Slavic)
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Elena Prokhorova

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Readers: Moya Luckett, Jane Feuer , Gregory Waller (University of Kentucky)
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Readers: Valerie Krips, James Knapp, Henry Krips (Communications)

Alexander Prokhorov , Associate Professor, College of William and Mary

Dissertation: Inherited Discourse: Stalinist Tropes in Thaw Culture
Chair: Helena Goscilo (Slavic)
Readers: Lucy Fischer (Film), Mark Altshuller (Slavic), Nancy Condee (Slavic), Vladimir Padunov (Slavic)
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Chair: Marcia Landy (English)
Readers: Paul Bové (English), Colin MacCabe (English), Amy Villarejo (Cornell), Wahneema Lubiano (Duke)
Dissertation: French Film Criticism, Authorship, and National Culture in the Mirror of John Cassavetes’s Body, His Life, His Work
Readers: Marcia Landy (English), James Knapp
Dissertation: In The Shadow of His Language: Language and Feminine Subjectivity in the Cinema
Chair: Colin MacCabe (English)
Readers: Lucy Fischer (English), Lynn Emanuel, Patrizia Lombardo (French and Italian)
Dissertation: Being In Control: The Ending Of The Information Age
Chair: Paul Bové (English)
Readers: Jonathan Arac , Marcia Landy , Carol Stabile (Communications)
Dissertation: The Emergence of Date Rape: Feminism, Theory, Institutional Discourse, and Popular Culture
Readers: Nancy Glazener (English), Lucy Fischer (English), Carol A. Stabile (Communications)
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Readers: James Knapp, Marcia Landy (English), Colin MacCabe (English), Sabine Hake (German)
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Chair: Jane Feuer (English)
Readers: Eric Clarke (English), Marcia Landy (English), Danae Clark (Communications)
Dissertation: Technology, the Natural and the Other: The Case of Childbirth Representations in Contemporary Popular Culture
Readers: Marcia Landy (English), Dana Polan, Iris M. Young (Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, University of Pittsburgh)
Dissertation: Lesbian Rule: Cultural Criticism and the Value of Desire
Readers: Paul Bové (English), Colin MacCabe (English), Gayatri Spivak (Columbia)
Dissertation: Feminism, Postmodernism, and Science Fiction: Gender and Ways of Thinking Otherwise
Chair: Philip Smith
Readers: Marica Landy (English), Lucy Fischer (English), Dana Polan, Tamara Horowitz (Philosophy)
Dissertation: Camp and the Question of Value
Readers: Lucy Fischer (English), Marcia Landy (English), Eric Clarke (English), Janet Staiger (University of Texas–Austin)
Dissertation: Culture in a State of Crisis: A Historical Construction in Cinematic Ideology in India, 1919-75
Readers: Paul Bové (English), Colin MacCabe (English), Keya Ganguly (Carnegie Mellon University)
Dissertation: The Ethics of Transgression: Criticism and Cultural Marginality
Chair: Paul Bove (English)
Readers: Lucy Fischer (English), Marcia Landy (English), Dana Pollan, Danae Clarke
Dissertation: Sally Bowles: Fascism, Female Spectacle, and the Politics of Looking
Readers: Marcia Landy (English), Dana Polan, Sabine Hake (German)

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Browse through the thesis descriptions below, or use Ctrl+F / command+F to search for specific keywords.

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Adam Finkelston – NOW YOU SEE ME – 2023

Now You See Me, is an ongoing series of photography-based linocut self-portraits. The title alludes to the familiar ending of the axiom, “now you don’t”— implying that while you see me… my body, my experiences, and perspectives on my life, there are many parts of my existence that you don’t see in these images. The storytelling aspect of my images illustrates only moments and pieces of my truth. The images are about me, but they are also about a character I play. The character represents a man who inhabits constructed spaces acting out the dramas and moments of reflection in everyday life. In this thesis, I intend to make a connection between the indexicality of photography and the gestural aspects of printmaking. These two ways of making images – photography and printmaking – are emblematic of the balance between reality and fiction in my work. My prints seek to show visualizations of my own thoughts and feelings. By starting with a photograph, I can capture my poses and surroundings in a realistic way, but by departing from the photograph into drawing and printmaking, I can add or subtract from the original photograph, incorporating details and quasi-surrealist imagery to enhance the impact of the images. Editing out personal details allows for clarity and a deeper connection to the universal, harnessing the totality of human experience. The gestural expectations and nature of drawing and printmaking add a fictional element to the reality of the photograph. A drawing is always necessarily removed from whatever it represents. Even in a direct observational drawing, the artist is a filter between reality and its interpretation. In these prints I am rooted in photographic reality but adding my own interpretations and reveries through the addition of drawing and printmaking

Harrison Irving Loomis – American Moments – 2023

I see the spectacle of society. Brady’s photographs of civil war battlefields haunt my mind as I walk across the grounds of an American fort in Maryland, where history is performed by reenactors as though trapped in time. As I photographed tourists performing for their own images at Niagara Falls, I question whether their digital keepsakes hold any value, a bad picture becomes a forgotten experience, but a great experience should be remembered. In Times Square, tourists stare at the billboards of New York advertising, thinking they’ve found the beating heart of a city, when the local office workers just try to avoid it. Those same office workers might be happy to go to a baseball game, but they’ll be focused on their laptops more than the game, like the suits I found in box seats at Comerica Park. The structures of most stadiums organize people like a mini city, each person in their place, at levels determined by class. While everyone is free to walk Boston Common, only the privileged will get to look out on it without stepping outside, divided by apartment walls and glass windows. Yet everyone comes together to enjoy the fireworks show on New Year’s Eve, the dazzling lights and concussive blasts remind them they’ve been alive for another year and ask what they’ll do in the next. My photographs claim that it doesn’t really matter, the spectacle will still be there, in different forms, in different colors, in different American Moments. Sometimes I wish I could just enjoy the show...

Jessica Bonifas – Filmmaking is a River: My Journey Towards the Camera – 2023

I use filmmaking as a tool to alleviate suffering. During difficult times in my life I turned to the camera as I am able to express myself freely without explanations or words. The camera acts as a bridge between myself and others, allowing people to cross into the mind of the filmmaker. I’ve titled my most recent film, Fulaing is a Gaelic word meaning to suffer. I use the Gaelic language as a homage to my Irish heritage and for the preservation of the language itself. This short experimental film was shot on Super 8 analog film and projected in the gallery. I use fulaing to describe how I feel sometimes as a mother, filmmaker, and human struggling to survive in the world today. Fulaing is a piece of my story told in a loose experimental style to express the adversities that I have faced, and overcome, in my life

J udit German-Heins – A MONSTER IN THE SHAPE OF A WOMAN – 2023

This work is centered on my experience as a woman, a survivor, a host. It acts as a proof of my existence. My photographic images are drawn from stories, dreams, and feelings about my own experiences and illustrate struggles that I and many women face through their lives. I am interested in the complexity of being a woman biologically, socially and historically. My photographs are made with the wet-plate collodion technique, commonly used in the late -19th century. The slow process of pouring the sticky, volatile, and flammable emulsion, which records my experiences for centuries to come, allows me to embrace my past gradually. As I carefully mix acid, alcohol and salt to let the molecules work together to bring the latent images alive, I wonder about and consider my body as a collection of cells that encompass my ancestral history and that also carry traces of my children — dead and alive. For me, noble metals I use interpret and capture the intrinsic value of a female body and soul.

R. Kevin Combs – The Milltown – 2023

In this thesis, I will introduce you to the Town of Fries and many of its characters. The characters include me, some of the residents, and even the fog. We may find that the fog obfuscates certain truths about small town life, and occasionally, represents the differences I believe we have in this country. I will tell you stories about how the town was built from the ground up at the turn of the twentieth century to use the natural resources in the area and to exploit the tendency for wages to be lower in the Appalachian Mountains than in other parts of the country. I will tell you the story of the Town of Fries through my photographs and narration. You might even call it a performance. The story will provide a lesson in tolerance in a divided age and may assist in lifting the veil of fog that is a metaphor for our society and culture.

MFA Photography and Integrated Media Thesis Menu (2013-2022) Online Thesis Folder

Cotton Miller – The Limbo of Loss - 2013

Our entire lives we spend counting, counting up and counting down. The good things we count down to, and the bad things always seem insurmountable. When we are young, we think more is almost always better. As we get older in age and experience we begin to realize less is almost always more. Counting isn’t always about quantifying; it’s about identifying patterns. Counting is an attempt to find order or structure to gain understanding about the thing being counted. The myelin sheath is the protective layer of the axons in the brain, similar to the insulated coating on electrical wires, and in MS the immune system breaks down this protective barrier. When myelin is lost, and the brain-blood barrier is broken, the axons can no longer effectively conduct signals, which will manifest as a variety of symptoms including physical and cognitive disability. After the demyelination occurs, the symptoms that are experienced might subside, but never be fully extinguished. The possibility of loss, the inevitability of loss, and the uncertainty can be equally as powerful and life altering as the actual loss. According to Kübler-Ross, who introduced the hypothesis of the Five Stages of Grief, “The limbo of loss is in itself a loss to be mourned. Uncertainty can be an excruciating existence. It is the loss of life, going nowhere or going nowhere slowly without knowing if there will be a loss. This has become the foundation of my work, the idea that the mind is distinctly different than the brain.

Tommy Matthews 2013

If I ever build a house I will make it very skinny and tall with all the rooms built on top of each other, strung together through each other’s dreams as we slept. What about the person on the bottom then? Who was holding me in their dreams? Maybe this is what it means to grow up, to care and to provide instead of to receive. I grabbed the framed family photos and laid them flat on their backs, and carefully stacked one on top of the other till they made up a half-foot of thickness. Stepping on the frames I was conscious to keep my weight on the outside edges of the stack where it felt more secure. With time enough to make one last move I followed Vitus to the path that careened down a dirt embankment and bottomed out in a small opening of trees. The forest floor was hidden by arching ferns rising as high as my waist. An old felled Douglas fir was there; having collapsed long ago it was now a nursery log. It was half hollowed out inside and I crumpled my body in its opening. Vitus wedged himself alongside me and curled up in the shape of a scallop. As consciousness began to slip away I was eased to know I’d wake here, happy to be held in the grace of this great nurturer of the forest.

Nikki Seggara - Thalassophobia: A Philosophical Narrative On Congenital Fear – 2013

Though I have no recollection of it, it took years for my mother to get me to willingly bathe. She recalls that, even as an infant bathing in the sink, I would scream to the top of my lungs - even harder at the prospect of getting my head wet to wash my hair. It was the thought of deep water terrified me; the thought of what lies beneath - this trepidation of being pulled under, either trapped and unable to surface, or overcome by a creature where my vulnerable body, drifting in the vast sea, gave me no fighting chance. They could feel the pounding of my heart and the panic I struggled to contain for fear of giving myself away. It was the thought that my body could forever be lost in the lower depths, never to reemerge. I could never escape the feeling that this was...my fate. This question of shared phobia has enveloped the deepest corners of my mind. As an artist, I choose to make work that is symbolic of my quest for reasoning behind my fear. There are many who claim that innate fear exists, without any presence of personal history as a factor. These proclivities have been analyzed at great lengths for at least 50 years within the field of Ethology. Ethologists are particularly concerned with innate behavior, and believe that such behaviors are the result of genetics and in the way genes have been modified during evolution to deal with particular environments (Eibl-Eibesfeldt and Kramer) Konrad Lorenz, often described as the ‘father of ethology,’ spoke about this V-shaped shadow as a releasing mechanism for an innate fear response. The same fear response is witnessed in apes, who are all congenitally frightened of snakes, one of the few innate animal-based fears to also be widely present in humans. It is a grandiose notion, that my fears were ingrained into my brain from ancient genetic blueprints, passed down from generation to generation. She paradoxically loved what she also feared, as do I.

Angelina Kidd – Imagining the Unknown - 2013

I believe there is a soul and that it is energy manifested as light. We are connected to the cosmos through the very calcium in our bones and the iron in our blood, which originated from stars that died billions of years ago. My belief is that the earthly body is separate from the soul and that our light energy returns to the cosmos. Energy will not cease to exist, as it cannot be destroyed according to Laws of Thermodynamics. Therefore, if the soul is light energy, then it does not disappear and is instead transformed. Twenty-three years ago, my mother’s life was transformed by cancer. As I approach the same age of her departure, I am constantly aware of my own existence. This is why my investigation into the unknown is relevant and personal. I have no evidence for the human soul or the afterlife, as my research does not set out to prove this. Instead, my consciousness chooses to have faith in having a soul and this leads me into an artistic investigation of how I perceive the afterworld. With my light constructions, I do not seek to exploit this emotion; rather, I aim to provide a visual salve and to encourage my viewer to consider that after death, life will be unknown.

Anna Yeroshenko - Enduring Peripheries

An analysis of 1980’s architectural aesthetic and a physical thesis portfolio of re-photographed folded paper abstractions of architecture in the Boston area.

Anne Eder – Myth as a Semiological Language

Thesis dealing with nature, myths, magic, talismanic objects accompanied by a physical portfolio consisting of an outdoor installation in the Emerald Necklace featuring her giant moss-men made of objects and materials found in nature.

Danielle Ezzo – The Intentional Object

Thesis focused upon the concept of intimacy and its relationship to her professional work as a re-touching artist. This was supported by large scale photographs of only the actual re-touched elements of fashion model portraits and bodies.

E V Krebs – so-totally-ev.tumblr.com

A thesis that is a total interactive experience, different for every “reader” depending upon the links the “reader” elects to follow. A traditional thesis felt too static, whereas the Tumblr venue allowed her to create avenues for exploration through the use of hyperlinks; developing a sense of depth as the “reader” clicked, going deeper and deeper.

Lanai King – Clot: A personal Exploration of Blood as Myth and Medium

Thesis analyzing candidate’s personal psychosis and fear of blood and her exploration of using blood as a medium in artistic expression. Thesis was supported by a video illustrating short vignettes of her explorations.

Natalie Rzucidlo – 2,364 Cuts

A these that explored the relationships and differences between hand-made and industrial objects by mirroring the automatic repetition of a machine through the process of paper cutting and realization through lithography. Physical work were monumental paper abstractions graphically illustrating sound.

Nicole Carriere – The Big Picture

Thesis dealing with the dissection of family photographs through visual language, symbols, and performance of gender.

Tabitha Sherrell – Untitled

Thesis focused upon three generations of women within a single family and supported by large scale photographs of tableaus illustrating reconstructed domestic spaces. Writing dealt with the analysis of posing, and the way photography is used to represent the self and family.

Taylor Singmaster – My Father’s Daughter

Thesis written as an autobiography to document values instilled through childhood and realized in adult life. The thesis was supplemented with a video of the candidate’s work with Down Syndrome afflicted children and how her future career would be dedicated to a foundation dealing with this disease.

Tomi Ni – Wu Xing

Thesis about the lives and existence of illegal aliens, living in building and room-sized communities and their sacrifices to pay off the fees for smuggling them into America and keeping their family healthy, educated, and hopeful. Physical work in the form of photographs of this life.

Crystal Foss – Seeing the self Through the Forest of Judgement: Self Portrait & Power

Thesis engaged in a representation of her life being judged by others for being an overweight young woman. The visual work supplemented the writing and consisted of video, music, and uncompromising mural sized self-portraits.

Katie Doyle – 13 Ways of Looking at X

Thesis analyzing Wallace Steven’s poem, Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird. The thesis deconstructed the poem and then reconstructed it in the form of a journal to represent how the identical sentiments related to her present life. Physical work existed in the form of a video illustrating the relationships of words and images.

Kwangtae Kim – Soul Scape

A thesis discussing non-representational forms of photography as an invitational bridge into a state of meditation. The physical work took the form of massive scaled photographic abstractions of natural objects, such as his child’s hair, or water, seen in a way to obstruct identification. These works were painted upon in the style of a Sumi calligrapher.

Maryam Zahirimehr – In the Name of God, The Beneficent, The Merciful

A written thesis telling the stories of her life growing up female in the strict Muslim culture of Iran and how those experiences shaped her future. A video illustrating one particular story enhanced the reader’s experience by bringing the story to life. This thesis was subsequently accepted and shown at the Cannes Film Festival.

Maura O’Donnell – Untitled

This thesis considers the female as it is contested in American culture. The work speaks to the confusion of specific roles of woman, and the communication of contradictory views of femininity. The work and the manner in which it is shown translate the ugly encounters she experiences on a regular basis. Physical work consisted of short vignettes in video format.

Natalie Titone – The Excavation of Meaning

Thesis exploring the immigrant experience in America through the memories, textures, and materials used by the people building a life for subsequent generations. Writing dealt with a narrative story-telling experience and physical work was realized by laminations of photographic images from family albums onto porcelain and ceramic materials. Techniques were learned while in an internship at Harvard University.

Traci Marie Lee - The Implications and Consequences of the Snapshot and the Constructed Image

This thesis documented her search for knowledge about a southern aunt who was a pioneer in women being active in politics. The thesis was based on an envelope of pictures and newspaper clippings and was resolved in the thesis through paper constructions and video, with a strong concentration on sound.

Alicia Turbitt – Hearing what Seeing Says

This thesis documented the degeneration of sight of her sister’s boyfriend and his efforts to remain in a normal life in spite of his increasing loss of sight. The physical thesis work was in video form and featured vignettes such as all of his friends taking turns teaching him how to drive a car down a dark road in the winter.

John Dearing – Chemical Geometry - 2017

Dedicated to a 19 th c. path of investigation following Herschel’s Anthotype process, John made hundreds of combinations of food sources and chemistry and painted the solutions on papers exposed to UV light over time. The thesis included research into chemical additives to our food, the effect of UV rays on those solutions, and the nature of abstract expressionism and constructivist painting, the forms he created for his tests on paper.

Natalie Schaeffer – Trust - 2017

A series of lengthy video vignettes in an installation that illustrated the state of a multi-year relationship in the midst of a decision to go forward. The written component supported the process and analysis of the video investigation.

Noelle BuAbbud – Triduum - 2017

This thesis involved a trinity of videos revolving around the visual perception and recognition of the human body in a state of suffering or sorrow. Research detailed the paintings and sculptures she felt were emotionally profound because of the ways in which artists such as Caravaggio, Picasso, Goya, and Kollwitz depicted grief and suffering through the physicality of the human figure. Videos illustrated the research and were in the subjective forms of shadows, as in the parable from Plato’s Cave.

Xiao Zhao – Ferryman - 2017

This thesis focused on the parables, spirituality and theology of Zen Buddhism and that belief system’s impact upon him growing up in China, and his relationship with his grandmother who was a shaman. Visual components were photographic abstractions.

Sara Bonnick - Acts of Almost Touching (And Other Short Stories, Poems, and Analysis) - 2017

This thesis explored the aftermath of intimacy and was represented through a series of videos, photo-sculpture, and installation. Her work formed a language of clothing as it related to emotional connection of direct physical contact. She investigated the concept through repetition, mending, healing, repairing, and attaching. All alterations to an article of clothing displayed a psychological repurposing interaction and compromise between two bodies. The written component was formed via short stories and free verse poetry.

Britney Segermeister - 2018

In a dissection of social media, its features and influences can often be misinterpreted as an assortment of symptoms associated with a variety of mental illnesses. The ability to rapidly change personas, and impulsively construct personalities, could be a description if Dissociative Identity Disorder or nothing more than editing pictures of yourself on a number of unrelated sites. My thesis project is a visual depiction of signs and aspects of mental illness interpreted by the unique etiquette, trends and algorithms of social media.

Casey Cullen 2018 – 22 Poplar - 2018

My thesis, 22 Poplar, is a partial collection of the many memories my childhood home inspired, and in a very real way, a thank you to the people here, and gone, who raised me in it. I am interested in how memories, old and new, personal and familial, coalesce to fill and define personal domestic spaces. My investigation questions how memories, and the events associated with them, are affected by the removal or change of a key component in that moment. My memories, of our home, and the objects within, are now the only things I have left of my grandfather. After he passed, could some part of his being have gone to the same elusive space where memories reside? Probably not, but I would like to think my interpretation of the faux colonial house on 22 Poplar Street will get me a little closer to wherever his beautiful spirit rests.

Candice Inc 2018 – She Knows Me Now - 2018

In collaboration with my mother, my thesis explores the complexities of communication within a mother-daughter relationship following the death of her husband… my father. Throughout our life together, my mom and i were able to talk about anything and everything without conditions. The traumatic death of my father completely altered our dynamic and we became strangers to each other. Unable to recognize the unique pain and loss that the other was experiencing, our ability to understand one another reached a point where spoken language failed. The only way for me to speak at this point was through the trust in my art and visual expression. Words were useless and so I turned to images. In our recent past, this created an even greater problem because my visual approach to telling the story of my suffering was even more incoherent to her than speech. I was forcing her to learn my side of the story, my truth. Children need to recognized by their parents and my mother’s resistance to that adjusted view of her adult daughter continues to be a constant battle for myself. It is a struggle being an artist and a daughter. She Knows Me Now is a test for us. Testing my responsibilities as her daughter, testing us both to not attack or point a finger of blame, and testing my responsibilities as an artist where telling my truths is my priority.

Rebecca Chappelear - 2018

My work explores the evidence that contributed to my family’s dysfunction and ultimately its collapse, brought on by my stepfather’s own separate trauma and depression—complications that had been ingrained into his personality long before we entered his life. My images are constructions based the events that took place during the period that he and my mother were married, in which time I had gone from my mid-teens to my early twenties, and my sister from kindergarten into eighth grade. A photographic narrative allows me to select the memories that are crucial to my and my audience’s understanding of the events that took place; moments that of course were not photographed, as a family reserves the taking of pictures for times meant to be remembered and looked back upon. With the creation of these photographs, I am able to investigate my experience with a man whose role as as my father deteriorated as he was engulfed by his alcoholism and depression.

Samantha Nieto – Catholic Girlhood Narrative - 2018

Growing up, I idolized everything Disney; Mickey Mouse was my god, The Sensational Six were my saints. Disney movies became my homilies and scriptures, they taught me life lessons and helped me imagine that I could be anything I wanted to be. My Lady of Guadalupe, Pocahontas, was my hero as a child and brought strength to me as an adult. She was the only Disney “Princess” I figured I could be due to our similar dark hair and complexion, which I eventually learned to appreciate. Because of her, I knew I was my own heroine princess who didn’t need a prince charming to save the day, I only needed to have faith and believe. My work is interested in the idea and systems of belief as it occurs in my life and in the objects that represent my values and what I believe in. I am expressing my beliefs from the past, and the present. Each piece represents a time in my life, with reference to a foundation of the Mexican catholic faith I grew up with and have transformed from. I am interested in the connection that one has with faith, symbols and objects of value stemming from childhood memories and experiences testing faith. With time, all these elements look different and change meaning as we age.

Brittney Callahan – Paradise Entertainment Feature of the Week: Splint – 2018

Watching television has been part of my daily ritual since childhood. Every time it was turned on, I was able to enter into new worlds that were exotic compared to my house. Each story on the screen filled me with hope, inspired me with passion, and took me to a place where everything, no matter how terrible, seemed to have a purpose, an arc, and an end. These visual narratives birthed the idea of an equational life, one that seemed simple and mathematical. After I realized that life couldn’t be firmly calculated, I decided to invent my own alternative realities of which I could control through photography and video. My primary interest is in self-construction, how identities and personalities are formed, how they manifest and shift, and the characterization of “self”. With my current work, I am utilizing the techniques of cinema and theater to construct a fictitious reality, that emulates the surface of a world that I have long-envied and idolized: Hollywood. The process of performing in my designed space is cathartic because, instead of being a passive spectator to someone else’s constructed narrative, I create my own and actively participate in it.

Gretjen Helene – Susurrus – 2019

I am currently working on a 24 minute linear video titled ‘Susurrus’ that will be exhibited within the interactive installation ‘Lost In Thought.’ ‘Susurrus’ is a collage of moving imagery which I am calling a living collage mindscape. This projected video is central in the installation and will be introduced by 11 paced photographs titled ‘Framed,’ and accompanied by a resin sculpture titled ’60% water’. For the sake of this introduction to my work, I will concentrate on the video ‘Susurrus’ alone. A discussion about the other installation elements would disrupt their intended affects.

JiSun Lee – The planet, LOVE – 2019

Art allows me to express unexplainable emotions and feelings I have never felt before. Meaning by emotions, for example, sadness and happiness have to co-exist to reveal each other’s existence and the value they have.I always had a hard time controlling my emotions. It may be because I’m a sensitive person; I feel my emotions in huge waves. Many incidences happened to me because my inability to express and control my emotions, Love, relationships, avoidance, jealousy, hatred, anger, and happiness, aresometimes hard for me to express this with words. But I am learning from these contradicting emotions like the light and the dark. After creating my art, I have discovered myself in the process of expressing emotion through art. And I learned to control myself. This is the way I protect myself. The only way to express my sensitive emotions that cannot be created in words because there’s no words for them. My language -I speak through my art.

Kristen Matuszak – Confined In My Skin – 2019

When deciding to create my book, “Confined In My Skin,” I was distinctively thinking aboutcinema, and film reels in particular. The viewer experiences my book the way they would acinematic film, I am continuously manipulating the perception of the viewer. They see what theywant to see, then as they flip through the pages, they get a sense of something much darkerand deeper than their original intake of the work.

Molly Meador – RabbitRabbitRabbit – 2019

The main conceptual focus in this work is obsession, but it has become clear that my living definition of this word is different than the normal interpretation. This is not a project about how obsession can affect a person, and it’s not about obsession as a direct, generally temporary mental state in relation to a specific topic. It’s about how it affects me and the resulting compulsions that occur as a way to live with and control these fixations. It’s about how the obsession can be used and dealt with, but it’s not a solution. An obsession, though intense and consuming, can be finite and have a course. There is a difference between an obsession and an obsessive personality. A life defined by obsession cannot sustain itself with any sort of harmony unless an order is established. That necessity is where this project comes from; and to establish an order to something, you must sometimes first tear it apart.

Vanessa Fischer – This Way Through The Darkness – 2019

I still desire to create a space to preserve and experience my past, only now these memories live outside of my mind in my art. This Way Through the Darkness stems from the Memory Box I created as an adolescent while mourning the loss of my mother. Looking at household surfaces has been my way of connecting to the memory of my mom, because these were the surfaces she touched every day, the same surfaces I have in my life today

Will Harris – Evelyn Beckett – 2019

In this work I confront the complexities of my Nana, Evelyn Beckett’s dementia, by fabricating the pieces that have gone missing. Within my Nana's mind, history and fiction collide, creating something strangely new, haunting and at times painfully beautiful. Ten years ago was now ten minutes ago. There were no seasons; the clocks stood still. My grandmother was both lost and reborn. Fragments of the person I used to know would come to me now and then, but she was no longer my Nana and there was no one to hold our familial history together.

Byron Hocker – Red Sky Morning – 2020

I have found ways to escape the daunting task of everyday life. I can use photography to play. I am able to convert the seriousness of life to my own comedic circus. Roland Barth in Camera Lucida said it more eloquently than I when he wrote, “What pricks me is the discovery of this equivalence. In front of the photograph of my mother as a child, I tell myself: She is going to die, I shudder...over a catastrophe which has already occurred. Whether or not the subject is already dead, every photograph is a catastrophe.” Because of this truth, I must play and create because it is all too serious. I can also transform these people, my family, into anyone I want when I am in control of the photograph.

Ge Wang – A Reluctant Citizen – 2020

Photography has been a narrative tool for my family. I did not have much of my own voice in the family narrative because my parents were the photographers. I picked up photography soon after I left China and started to live alone in the US. I became the executor behind the camera, recording my very own story. Even still, I still lose my sense of time here very often. The memories I have formed in America have never managed to dig themselves a deep hole in my mind.

Lys Ciani – Field Notes – 2020

I practice camera-less photography and assume the rights to these elemental processes in hopes of gaining a more grounded and intrinsic understanding of the landscapes I observe, interpret, and create. I’ve adopted this type of field work as a personal collection of visual-mappings of uninhabited environments. Field notes are composed of two components: descriptive information and the observer’s reflection about the study that is being conducted. Each print carries light, minerals, and contaminants of the water; literal recordings of the environment they took form in. Untidy records recalling weather conditions, time of day, and where on the bend they were made. They coalesce to form a portrait, a trace of the shifting identity of a riverbed.

Matt Klos – Field Notes – 2020

In the last four years I have been acclimating, building, and modifying my life. Creating a new normal and reestablishing what it means to be me both physically and psychologically. Paralysis is the metaphorical-well of inspiration I draw upon to create my images, sculptures and studio working environment. I utilize my paralysis as both coping mechanism and visual source, documenting and interpreting my body’s devastation within the fine lines of reality and fabrication.

Anna Clem – To the Garden and Back – 2021

To the Garden and Backconsists of four distinct series—The Perennial Garden, Floating Petals, Tucked into the Garden Bed, and Visitor—and a video piece called In Her Garden, through which I have examined from all sides my longing for the impossible return to innocence, obsession with preservation, and my present-day “gardens.”

Faith Ninivaggi – Present History – 2021

I’ve stared into the eyes of murderers and abusers. I’ve studied and documented the masterful kinesics of great athletes, influential politicians, and infamous public figures. Through my lens, I’ve captured victories and tragedies. I’ve documented the literal forces of nature. I’ve talked to thousands of strangers, tapping on shoulders, stopping people in the streets, and knocking on doors...all for the chance to tell their story through photographs.

Fangwei Xu – The Sun – 2021

The Sun is a series of works that touch on ideology and its relationship to social context, gaze, and subconsciousness, represented by various media. Ideology for me is nothing but a framework, and it requires the context of media to deliver the meaning. Humans have countless ways to explain an idea, like in China, there are multiple words to define snow, or rain, and each method of expression, each medium corresponds to a different kind of cultural interpretation: superficial or cognitive, conscious or unconscious, temporary or permanent, literal or connotative.

John Nanian –Chepiwanoxet – 2021

This thesis will explore the idea of place by trying to un-derstand what a small spit of land in Narragansett Bay called Chepi-wanoxet was before colonial ownership. After visiting the area countless times with and without a camera, I am, in collab-oration with the island and the sea around it, attempting to make drawings and light-markings, using organic and light-sensitive materials, and imperfection to show its essence and its meaning to me.

Wenshuai Shi (Ace) – Isolation – 2021

I have made a series of photographic and video works using "isolation" as the theme. From my initial project “HOME,” completed in Shanghai in 2018 and 2019, to my recent project, “My Fear Journal,” made in Boston this past year. This past year, my intention was to illustrate to the viewer not the state of my loneliness, but the process of my thinking, reflecting on isolation.

Zachary Hayes – Seeing is Believing, Looking is Loving – 2021

In Seeing is Believing, Looking is Loving, I shall discuss the internal complexities of being able to relate and empathize with others and how photography acts as a vehicle for me to be able to do these things. Here you will be introduced to I (Want To) Love You, a body of images that I have pulled from my personal catalogs of people that I choose to commit myself to.

Abigail Egan – In This Home – 2022

My thesis, titled In This Home, is about documenting experiences with my family that are reshaped by the passage of time and the evolution of technology, while navigating my conflicting ethical responsibilities to my art and to my family amidst a world of digital obsession. Sharing my art with a wider audience for the first time, this body of work investigates the layers of emotion within the family home, exploring the intricacies of loving one’s family unconditionally.

Ariana Sanchez – From Here to There – 2022

My move to New England was a complete 180 from what I had known in Florida. Once settled, I explored my new neighborhood and started photographing its characteristics, searching for ways I could connect both as a person and a photographer. There were days that I wished I could go back to Florida and experience that environment once more. Here in Cambridge I once again felt like an outsider, wondering if this was just another temporary place for me. I still don’t know. My images simultaneously represent my comfort and discomfort to where I am; to where I hope to belong. My desire for “home” is strong. It’s difficult to put down roots in shifting soil.

Jill Bemis – Homing Instinct – 2022

Homing Instinct is an exploration of walking and the physicality of film photography as it mirrors a poetic and visceral connection to the land. An ephemerality lingers within the work–a longing to experience and hold on as larger forces cause land and home to change forms. The work holds space for lightness but also defies it through an ominous representation of the cycles of loss within nature. I am especially drawn to the birds that live between land and sky, between rooted experience and unmoored wonder. I have a yearning to understand what it is like to be a bird, and a simultaneous acceptance of knowing that I never will. There is both a separation and a closeness between us. I do not pretend to understand why, but the observed experience of a bird feels wildly linked to my own returning to the marsh.

Monica Philbin – Otherworld – 2022

I began this thesis as a journey to find myself and to piece together evidence of the spirit world in my photographs to show my mom. I soon realized that it would probably be impossible to make a photograph of an actual ghost and subsequently turned my focus up on the mysteries found in my secular and manageable world. Photography has become my way to express myself and to communicate with the world.

Natasha Major – The Outpouring – 2022

The Outpouring is the title of this document that moves between memoir and musing, examining how I came to understand photography as a mediator between inner and outer life as well as how my process has developed and deepened over the last two years. Two artist books are connected to the written document: For an Anxious Mind (2021) and The Light Here and Elsewhere (2022), each is a vessel for communicating a particular feeling or an experience. The Outpouring discusses the organizing principles of each work, what led to their conception and the artists who have helped me locate my work in a larger context.

Quentin Gong – One, And Two Stories – 2022

Dramatizing what I have experienced allows me to turn my ordinary experience into a more interesting story. In this way I use my own personal life as a basis for my films. Snap Out of It and Mary were two short films I made in 2021 and 2022. These films are about ordinary people’s stories, and they are both created based on my personal life experience. We are all born ordinary, but we all have the potential to experience extraordinary lives.

Tiziana Meneghel-Rozzo – The Power of Camera-less Photography to Communicate a Haptic Experience – 2022

Through my projects, I am searching for a way to visually communicate a moment experienced in time through what it brings to light: a face, a tear, the physical act of leaving an impression or sharing an emotional gesture. I use photography as a way to connect and communicate a lived experience and to visualize bodily intimacies. In my images I like to wonder, imagine, and question what I am looking at — what I know and do not know. It is within the dark realities of a chaotic world that I, as an artist, feel compelled to respond with marks that carry meaning within them. In the two projects that follow, Haptic a nd Tears, I use a 20th-century photographic technique to focus on touch and contact, to convey meaning at the level of physical operation.

Travis Flack – Lifelong Obsession With Oblivion – 2022

As of right now, photography has been in my life for more than half the years I have lived on this planet. It has moved with me, and sometimes in spite of me, marking creative growth, existential frustration along with the very specific idiosyncrasies that I now realize are the traits that define me as an artist. In conjunction with this medium that I have chosen as a method of explanation and expression is this other entity, a need for extremes of varying intensities that I have come to realize is the driving force behind a lot of the subjects I choose. These intense experiences have broken down my existence in complex ways, making me feel like someone who is in a constant state of repair or rebuilding. Lifelong Obsession With Oblivion started out as the calculated detonation of my life in order to review it. From this exploded view the work mutated, from the very literal physical form to the figurative forensic symbolic investigation. Lifelong Obsession With Oblivion is a photographic survey about surrendering, about giving into something that completely consumes you to the point of complete, wonderful, beautiful deconstruction.

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Film Studies Research Guide: Research Topics

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Department of Film & Media UC Berkeley

Dissertations and career paths.

Eliot Bessette Dissertation: “Thinking Through Fear in Film and Haunts”

Alexandra Bush Dissertation: “Cold Storage: A Media History of the Glacier”

Jennifer Blaylock Research Associate in Cinema Studies, Bowdoin College Dissertation: “Media/Fetish: A Postcolonial Archaeology of New Media and Africa”

Dolores McElroy Lecturer, UC Berkeley Department of Film & Media Dissertation: “Passionate Failures: The Diva Onscreen”

Justin Vaccaro

Dissertation: “Human Sciences, Human Monsters: the SF-Horror Film from the 1930s to 1960s”

Fareed Ben-Youssef

Global Perspectives on Society Teaching Fellow, NYU-Shanghai Dissertation: “Visions of Power: Violence, the Law and the Post-9/11 Genre Film”

Patrick Ellis

Brittain Fellow, Georgia Tech University Dissertation: “Aeroscopics: Spectacles of the Bird’s-Eye View”

Jennifer Pranolo

Center for Humanistic Inquiry Fellow, Amherst College Dissertation: “Studio/World: Photography’s Other Nature”

Robert Alford

Assistant Director, Donor Relations at UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture Dissertation:“’To Know the Words to the Music’: Spatial Circulation, Queer Discourse and the Musical”

Christopher Goetz

Assistant Professor of Cinematic Arts, University of Iowa Dissertation: “At Home Everywhere: Empowerment Fantasies in the Domestication of Videogames”

Kristen Loutensock

Dissertation: “Genre Disorder: Autism and Narrative in American Popular Culture”

Nicholas Baer

Assistant Professor of Film Studies, University of Groeningen Dissertation: “Absolute Relativity: Weimar Cinema and the Crisis of Historicism”

Irene Chien

Assistant Professor of Media and Communication at Muhlenberg College Dissertation: “Programmed Moves: Race and Embodiment in Fighting and Dancing Videogames”

Jonathan Haynes

Dissertation : “The Mid-Atlantic : Fantasmatic Genealogies of the French and American New Waves”

George Larkin

Chair of Filmmaking, Associate Professor, Woodbury University, Burbank, CA Dissertation: “Post-Production: The Invisible Revolution of Filmmaking”

Irina Leimbacher

Assistant Professor of Film Studies, Keene State College Dissertation: “More Than Talking Heads: Nonfiction Testimony and Cinematic Form”

Erica Levin

Assistant Professor of History of Art, Ohio State University Dissertation: “Social Media: The News in Experimental Film, Video Art, and Performance after 1960”

Kevin Wynter

Assistant Professor of Media Studies, Pomona College Dissertation : “Feeling Absence: Horror in Cinema from Post War to Post-Wall”

Kris Fallon

Assistant Professor of Cinema and Digital Media, University of California, Davis Dissertation: “Where Truth Lies: Political Documentary Film & Digital Media, 2000-2010”

Dissertation: “The Initimacy of Distance: South Korean Cinema and the Conditions of Capitalist Individuation”

Rielle Navitski

Assistant Professor of Theatre and Film Studies, University of Georgia Dissertation: “Sensationalism, Cinema and the Popular Press in Mexico and Brazil, 1905-1930”

Damon Young

Assistant Professor of Film and Media and French, University of California, Berkeley Dissertation: “Making Sex Public: Cinema and the Liberal Social Body”

Laura Horak

Associate Professor of Film Studies, Carleton University Dissertation: “Girls Will Be Boys: Cross-Dressed Women and the Legitimation of American Silent Cinema”

Jennifer Malkowski

Assistant Professor of Film and Media Studies, Smith College Dissertation: “‘Dying in Full Detail’: Mortality and Duration in Digital Documentary”

Scott Ferguson

Assistant Professor in the Department of Humanities and Cultural Studies, University of South Florida Research Scholar, Binzagr Institute for Sustainable Prosperity Dissertation: “Recapitulation in close-up: Ontogeny, phylogeny, and the face of evolutionary time”

Meredith Hoy

Assistant Professor of Art History and Theory, Arizona State University Dissertation: “From Point to Pixel: A Genealogy of Digital Aesthetics”

Associate Professor, Department of Humanities and Cultural Studies, University of South Florida Dissertation: “‘Passionate Detachment’: Technologies of Vision and Violence in American Cinema, 1967 – 1974”

Associate Professor, Media and Communications, Muhlenberg College Dissertation: “Traveling spectators: Cinema, geography, and multiculturalism in late twentieth-century America”

Douglas Cunningham

Adjunct Professor, Professor of Humanities, BYU Adjunct Professor of Film and Media, University of Utah Dissertation: “Imagining Air Force identity: Masculinity, aeriality, and the films of the U.S. Army Air Forces First Motion Picture Unit”

Tung-hui Hu

Associate Professor of English, University of Michigan Postdoctoral Scholar in the Michigan Society of Fellows, and Assistant Professor of English Language and Literature, University of Michigan, 2009-2012 Dissertation: “Seeing Emptiness: Berlin, Nevada, and the Space of New Media”

Anupama Kapse

Associate Professor of Film Studies, Loyola Marymount University Film and Media Studies, Queens College, City University of New York Dissertation: “The moving image: melodrama and early Indian cinema 1913-1939”

Associate Professor of Critical Studies, School of Cinema, San Francisco State University Dissertation: “Life and death in the cinema of Weimar Germany, 1919-1924”

Hoang Tan Nguyen

Associate Professor of Literature and Cultural Studies, UC San Diego Dissertation: “A view from the bottom: Asian American masculinity and sexual representation”

Scott Combs

Associate Professor of English, St. John’s University in Queens, New York City Dissertation: “Final touches: Registering death in American cinema”

Minette Hillyer

Lecturer, Department of English, Film, Theatre, and Media Studies, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand Dissertation : “Making home: Film and the modern American everyday”

Ara Osterweil

Assistant Professor, Department of English, McGill University Dissertation: “Flesh cinema: The corporeal avant-garde 1959-1979”

Guo-Juin Hong

Associate Professor, Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies; Director, Program in the Arts of the Moving Image; Academic Director, Duke in LA Program; Duke University Dissertation: “Cinematograph of history: Post/colonial modernity in 1930s Shanghai and new Taiwanese cinema since 1982”

Maria St John

Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, UC San Francisco; Chair, Feminist Psychology Program, New College Graduate Psychiatry Program Dissertation: “The mammy fantasy: Psychoanalysis, race, and the ideology of absolute maternity”

Frank Wilderson

Professor, African-American Studies and Drama, UC Irvine Dissertation: “Settler, ‘savage’, slave : cinema and the structure of U.S. antagonisms”

Dissertation: “Acoustic graffiti: The rock soundtrack in contemporary American cinema”

Domietta Torlasco

Associate Professor of Italian and Comparative Literature, Northwestern University Dissertation: “Undoing the scene of the crime: Time and vision in Italian cinema”

Lecturer, Writing Program, University of California, Santa Barbara Dissertation: “Beowulf in Hollywood: Popular Film as Folktale and Legend”

Catherine Zimmer

Associate Professor of English, Pace University Dissertation : “Film on film: Self-reflexivity and moving image technology”

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

Designated Emphasis

Juan Ospina Leon (Spanish and Portuguese, 2015)

Asst. Professor of Hispanic Studies, Dept. of Modern Languages and Literatures, The Catholic University of America

Todd Barnes (Rhetoric, 2010)

Associate Professor of Literature, Ramapo College of New Jersey

Mona El-Sherif (Political Science, 2010)

Assistant Professor of Arabic, Colorado College

David Pettersen (French, 2008)

Associate Professor of Film Studies, and French Languages and Literatures, University of Pittsburgh

Elisabeth Anker (Political Science, 2007)

Associate Professor, American Studies, George Washington University

Zeynep Gürsel (Anthropology, 2007)

Associate Professor of Anthropology, Macalester College

June Hwang (German, 2007)

Associate Professor of German, University of Rochester

Rani Neutill (Ethnic Studies, 2007)

Harvard University, Committee on Degrees in History and Literature

Polina Barskova (Slavic, 2006)

Associate Professor of Russian Literature; Humanities, Arts and Cultural Studies Faculty, Hampshire College

Jane McGonigal (Performance Studies, 2006)

Games designer and researcher, lecturer, consultant

Christopher Oscarson (Scandinavian, 2006)

Associate Professor, Department of Humanities, Classics and Comparative Literature, Brigham Young University

Minh-ha T. Pham (Ethnic Studies, 2006)

Associate Professor/Faculty Fellow of Social and Cultural Analysis, Pratt institute

Andrey Shcherbenok (Rhetoric, 2006)

Three-year post-doc, Columbia University, Society of Fellows; since 2010, Fellow, Russian and Slavonic Studies, The University of Sheffield

Reid Davis (Performance Studies, 2005)

Adjunct Professor, Department of Performing Arts, Saint Mary’s College, Moraga; also works extensively as a theater director.

Deborah Shamoon (Japanese, 2005)

Associate Professor, East Asian Languages and Cultures, University of Notre Dame

Andrew Uroskie (Rhetoric, 2005)

Associate Professor, Art Department, Stony Brook University (fields of specialization: Late Modern and Contemporary Art, Photography and the Moving Image)

Christopher Caes (Slavic, 2004)

Lecturer in Polish/Acting Director, East Central European Center, Columbia University

Kirsten Cather (Japanese, 2004)

Associate Professor, Asian Studies, University of Texas, Austin

José Alaniz (Comparative Literature, 2003)

Associate Professor, Slavic Languages and Literatures, University of Washington

Jennifer Kapczynski (German, 2003)

Assistant Professor, Germanic Languages and Literatures, Washington University, St Louis

Arne Lunde (Scandinavian, 2003)

Associate Professor, The Scandinavian Section, University of California, Los Angeles

Lucia Galleno (Spanish and Portuguese, 2002)

Associate Professor, Queens University, Charlotte, North Carolina

Jared Sexton (Ethnic Studies, 2002)

Associate Professor, African American Studies and Film and Media Studies, School of Humanities, University of California, Irvine

Cari Borja (Anthropology, 2001)

Clothes designer. See Cariborja.com

Lilya Kaganovsky (Comparative Literature, 2000)

Professor of Comparative Literature, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

St Andrews Research Repository

St Andrews Research Repository
Philosophical, Anthropological & Film Studies (School of)
Film Studies

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Focusing on the transnational and the peripheral elements of film, we develop and expand the entire realm of film scholarship. Working on areas from Deleuze to Korean cinema, from digital cinema to Eastern Europe, from transnational auteurs to documentary and activist films, and many areas in between, we promise a vibrant and engaging research environment for students and scholars.

For more information please visit the Department of Film Studies home page.

This material is presented to ensure timely dissemination of scholarly and technical work. Copyright and all rights therein are retained by authors or by other copyright holders. All persons copying this information are expected to adhere to the terms and constraints invoked by each author's copyright. In most cases, these works may not be reposted without the explicit permission of the copyright holder.

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Film festivalisation : the rise of the film festival in the uk's postindustrial cities , making meaning of laurence olivier : reading queer sensibilities in his hollywood performances, 1939-1960 , watch and learn : film and the british educational life 1895-1910 , ecuadorian cinema for the 21st century : negotiating neoliberalism policy, industry, and memory during the ley de cine years , when the place speaks : an analysis of the use of venues and locations in the international film festival circuit .

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The Oxford Handbook of Qualitative Research

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19 Photography as a Research Method

Gunilla Holm, Institute of Behavioural Sciences, University of Helsinki

Published: 04 August 2014
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This chapter discusses the development of photography as a research method in social sciences. It describes the different types of photographs used, such as archival photographs and photographs taken by the researcher, and it focuses especially on photographs taken by participants. The uses of different approaches to obtain photographs and issues of interest concerning each approach are presented. The most common approaches to analyze photographs, such as content analysis, discourse analysis, and ethnographic analysis are described. Interesting and challenging questions about the interpretation and presentation of photographs are raised, such as the impact of the researcher’s and participants’ habitus on the interpretation of photographs. Finally, ethical issues in research using photographs are considered, especially the meaning of informed consent and confidentiality in photographic research is emphasized.

We encounter numerous photographs or visual pictures many times every day. They might range from photos on billboards to mug shots in a newspaper or photos of family members on a person’s work desk. We notice and process most of them on a superficial level, but some have more of an impact on us. They affect us more profoundly, emotionally or intellectually. Overall, our culture is becoming more and more visual, with images saturating our environment not only through the more traditional modes like TV, newspapers, and magazines, but also through smartphones with cameras and social media like Facebook. Despite living in a visual age ( Gombrich, 1996 ) and the visual saturation of our culture, photographs are underutilized in social science research.

This chapter explores how photography has been used in social science research and what the current developments are. Commonly, we refer to visual methods and visual research, but here we can distinguish between two major kinds, namely, film/video research and research using photography. Within both fields are many different ways of using videos and still photos. For example, with regard to video, the researcher can do the videotaping, but in recent research family members also act as co-researchers, videotaping another family member at home in the absence of the researcher ( Sahlström, Pörn, & Slotte-Lüttge, 2008 ). Likewise, for photography, photos can be taken by the researcher or the research participants or existing photographs can be used. Videos and photographs require different kinds of analyses and are reported in different ways. Although there is a considerable variety and complexity of work arising from the two methods, in this chapter I give an in-depth discussion only of the use of photographs in social science research.

Even though some thought that digital photography might be the end of photography, it simply changed photography and made it even more popular. Mirzoeff (2009 , pp. 2–3) estimates that there are “more than 3 billion photos on the file-sharing site Flickr, and over 4 billion on the social networking site Facebook... Media estimates of the number of advertisements seen per day range from hundreds to the now widely used figure of 3,000”; furthermore, Mirzoeff estimates that in 2008, people took 478 billion photos using their mobile phones (p. 250).

The emphasis on visual images and on visual culture is also evident in the numerous textbooks on visual culture produced in the last fifteen years. A classic text in social sciences first published in 1999 is Evans and Hall’s Visual Culture: The Reader ( Evans & Hall, 2010 ). The book theorizes photography and provides theoretical perspectives on it, as well as providing a gender and race perspective on photographs. The difference between a visual and a textual research culture is well expressed by Kress and van Leeuwen (2006 , p. 2) in their statement “(b)ut even when we can express what seem to be the same meanings in either image—form or writing or speech, they will be realized differently. For instance, what is expressed in language through the choice between different word classes and clause structures, may, in visual communication, be expressed through the choice between different uses of colour or different compositional structures. And this will affect meaning. Expressing something verbally or visually makes a difference.” This difference is important in visual research. Different data and different results are obtained through different ways of doing the research. The search for a better understanding has led to a rapid increase in the use of photography in social science research. The visual culture research includes many different kinds of visuals, such as art pictures, graphs, and maps (for a comprehensive overview of different kinds of visuals, see Margolis & Pauwels, 2011 ; Reavey, 2011 ).

There has been a proliferation of books on general visual research methods including those by Emmison and Smith (2007) , Margolis and Pauwels (2011) , Mitchell (2011) , Reavey (2011) , Spencer (2011) , and Stanczak (2007) , as well as methodology books such those by as Pink (2007) and Rose (2012) . Likewise, much has been published on specific aspects of visual research, such as visual ethnography ( Pink, 2012 ) and the analysis of visual data ( Ball & Smith, 1992 ; Banks, 2007 ). We also see the increasing popularity of visual research methods in social sciences; in addition to journals like Visual Anthropology, Visual Anthropology Review, Visual communication, and Visual Studies , many other journals now also publish photographs. In addition, the Society for Visual Anthropology and the International Visual Sociology Association provide avenues and conferences for presenting visual research.

Across the social sciences, photography as a research method has a long history in fields such as anthropology and sociology, but it is fairly new to psychology and education. However, in sociology, photography continues to hold a marginal position, mainly because it is considered too subjective. In anthropology, film has been more important. Harper (2004) describes gathering information as a function for photography in social sciences. Here he uses Bateson and Mead’s book Balinese Character, A Photographic Essay (1942) as an example; these researchers “used 759 photographs (selected from more than 25 000 taken during their fieldwork) to support and develop their ethnographic analysis” ( Harper, 2004 , p. 232). In his discussion of photography in sociology, Harper describes photography as being used mostly with the researcher as the photographer. A similar tendency can be seen in anthropology. Although earlier anthropologists and sociologists like Collier and Collier (1986) , Prosser (1996) , and Grady (1996) wanted to make photography fit into a “scientific” framework by providing exact methods for how to use photographs in research, contemporary ethnographers like Pink (2007) reject this approach. Pink argues for developing the way photography is used in research based on the questions and context of the study. The method can develop in the field, and she does not see the text as superior to the photographs, but as complementary and working together.

The field of psychology has engaged with photographs throughout its history, starting with Darwin’s use of photographs in his work. “A historical analysis of the role of the visual within psychology can reveal its instrumental effects in providing the context for ‘the psychological’ to become observable and therefore, measurable and more ‘scientific’” ( Reavey, 2011 , p. 2). As Reavey (2011) points out in her book Visual Methods in Psychology , qualitative research in psychology is a marginal field. The use of visual methods is thus at the margins of a marginal field of study. Contributing to this marginality, according to Reavey (p. xxvii), is the notion that photography as a method has been considered more appropriate for “use with children and those deemed less ‘able’ to communicate thoughts and feelings... In this sense, the ‘visual’ has traditionally been given the status of a naïve or more simplistic form of communication.” Overall, qualitative research in psychology has focused on language- and text-based materials. In experimental psychology, photos are sometimes used as material for memorization or evaluation tasks ( Mavica & Barenholtz, 2012 ; Mandal, Bryden, & Bulman-Fleming, 1996 ). In psychology related to health, education, and similar fields, there is some research using photography as a method (e.g., Brazg, Bekemeier, Spigner, & Huebner, 2011 ; Clements, 2012 ), but a search of psychology databases gives very few studies using photography.

In education, photos have been used in archival research related to, for example, school and space ( Grosvenor, Lawn, Nóvoa, Rousmaniere, & Smaller, 2004 ) and schooling and the marginalized ( Devlieger, Grosvenor, Simon, Van Hove, & Vanobbergen, 2008 ; Grosvenor, 2007 a ; 2007b ). Photography has also been used with preschool children to obtain an understanding of the children’s perceptions of their own surroundings and communities ( Clark & Moss, 2001 ; Einarsdottir, 2005 ; Serriere, 2010 ). The photographs are helpful especially if the children’s language is not yet well developed ( Clark, 2004 ; Prosser & Burke, 2008 ). Other examples of research in education using photography as a research method are studies focusing on elementary school students’ views on school and gender issues ( Newman, Woodcock, & Dunham, 2006 ) and on high school students’ views on quality teachers ( Marquez-Zenkov, Harmon, van Lier, & Marquez-Zenkov, 2007 ) as well as on themselves as high school students ( Holm, 1995 ; 1997 ). Lodge (2009) argues that children and youth are often not heard in research on schools, but that photography offers possibilities for engaging young people in the research. She sees photography as especially useful for engaging those usually silenced or marginalized in the school community (See also Wilson et al., 2007 , on the empowerment of students). Joanou (2009) points out that there are increased ethical considerations when working with marginalized groups of children, using as an example her study on children living and working on the streets in Lima.

Using photography in research with children is the fastest growing application of its kind. Most of this research is done in relation to the school setting, but research is also done on children’s perspectives on, for example, their outdoor environment ( Clark, 2007 ) and their city ( Ho, Rochelle, & Yuen, 2011 ). Others discuss more generally the topic of using photography with children ranging from two years old to teenagers and children’s photographic behavior ( Sharples, Davison, Thomas, & Rudman, 2003 ; Stephenson, 2009 ; Warming, 2011 ).

In this chapter, I discuss photography as a research method, review the different types of photographs used in research (e.g., archival photographs, photographs taken by the researcher), and focus especially on photographs taken by participants. The uses of different approaches to obtain photographs and issues of interest concerning each approach will be presented. The most common approaches used to analyze photographs are briefly described, and interesting and challenging questions about the interpretation and presentation of photographs are raised. Finally, ethical issues in research using photographs are considered.

Photography as a Research Method in Qualitative Research

In this chapter, a distinction is made between images and photographs. As stated earlier with regard to visual culture, images can also include such things as artwork, cartoons, drawings, and maps. In research studies, children are often asked to draw pictures on which interviews are then based ( Ganesh, 2011 ). Drawings in combination with texts focused on schooling were also the focus of Holm’s (1994) analysis of the teen magazine Seventeen (1966–89). In this study, the text and drawings placing an emphasis on how girls should behave and look made a strong counternarrative with regard to the importance of education for girls. The emphasis was on conforming to norms, on being stylish and pleasing, and on not challenging or upsetting male students. Skorapa (1994) analyzes how cartoons about schooling can either challenge or perpetuate stereotypes and the dominant ideology of schooling. Cartoons are not only amusing, but also often deal with cultural tensions, changes, and conflicts ( Provenzo & Beonde, 1994 ).

In 1997, Jipson and Paley (1997 a ) published an unusual book called Daredevil Research: Re-creating Analytic Practice in which several of the chapters on postmodern research challenge our notions of how research should be reported. Many of the chapters incorporate or build on visual images. In Paley’s (1997) chapter “Neither Literal nor Conceptual,” the text blends with abstract black-and-white images. In another chapter by Jipson and Paley (1994 b ), text blocks are imposed in the middle of the pages, which in turn are a map of the space. In yet another chapter, the text itself constitutes an image by being written in one to four interweaving curving columns ( Jipson & Wilson, 1997 ). Although we rarely see this kind of experimenting with the use of visual images, these examples and other more arts-based visual research (see e.g., Knowles & Cole, 2008 ; Jipson & Paley, 1997 c ) provide a sense of the endless possibilities of using images. Furthermore, photography itself provides a lot of options; the kinds and uses of photographs are numerous. Due to the myriad of possibilities and the increasingly common use of photography, this chapter is limited to the use of photography in social science research.

One of the difficulties in using photography as a research method is the ambiguity that exists in photographs. Although photographs traditionally were thought of as portraying reality—the simple truth—this is no longer the case among researchers, even though many viewers still consider photographs as showing the truth. We acknowledge that photographs are constructed; they are made. Harper (2004) argues that this construction and subjectivity can be seen very clearly in photographs by early British anthropologists because they are all taken from the colonizers’ perspective. Interestingly, Chaplin (1996) argues that photographs are both taken and made as opposed to just made or constructed. They are taken in the sense that they give researchers the information and details they need, more like a record or a document, but the researcher also makes decisions on what to photograph and how to set it up and process it.

The photographer always has a reason for taking the photograph. There is an intention behind the photograph. The photographer wants to see something in particular or wants to send us a “message.” If the photographer is also a participant in the research, then the intended communication is connected to the researcher’s intentions as well. The researcher also influences the process by having selected a particular photo to be viewed by others. Consequently, there is also the intended audience; for whom is the photo taken? And, finally, there are the individual viewers. Photographers and researchers have their aims and intentions, but they cannot influence or control how the viewer interprets the photo. Sometimes the intended audience is only the researcher, and most of the photos will be seen and analyzed only by the researcher. These photographs are taken exclusively for the research and the researcher.

Whatever the case, without an accompanying text, many photographs can carry multiple meanings for the viewer ( Evans & Hall, 2010 ; see also Grosvenor & Hall, 2012 ). The possibility for multiple meanings and the ambiguity attached to photographs has made many, especially positivist, researchers uncomfortable with using or accepting photographs in books and articles. A good example of this is the disappearance of photos from the American Journal of Sociology under the direction of positivist editor Albion Small, even though the journal earlier had published numerous articles with photographs ( Stasz, 1979 ).

Photographs as Illustrations or for Documentary Purposes

Photography can be considered a data collection method, but not all photographs are used as data to be analyzed. The most common uses for photographs in social science research have been as illustrations and documentation. Documentary photography has a long history in fields like anthropology and sociology, as discussed earlier, but also in fields like history, where archival photographs are often used. In cultural studies, a good example of historical analysis of documentary photographs is Steet’s (2000) study of the construction of the Arab world in the magazine National Geographic . She analyzes one hundred years of photographs in the magazine, visually (and textually) constructing men and women as well as patriarchy and Orientalism in the Arab world. In contrast to Steet’s extensive material, Magno and Kirk (2008) analyzed only three photographs when examining how development agencies use photos of girls to promote their agencies’ work concerning the education of girls. However, they used an elaborate analysis template with seven categories: surface meaning, narrative, intended meaning, ideological meaning, oppositional reading, and coherency (coherency meaning in this case whether the photographs and the text argued for the same thing). Banks (2007 , p. 11) explains the difference between using photographs as illustrations and as anthropological visual research in that photographs as illustrations “are not subject to any particular analysis in the written text, nor does the author claim to have gained any particular insights as a result of taking or viewing the images.”

Wang (1999) describes a nontraditional approach to documentary photography as underpinning the photo-voice method. She sees photo-voice as theoretically grounded in critical consciousness and feminist theory and as an effort by “community photographers and participatory educators to challenge assumptions about representation and documentary authorship” (p. 185). Photo-voice is an approach to using photography as a method for collecting data that is merged with social activism and political change, and particularly with community involvement. The main goals of photo-voice are, according to Wang, Cash and Powers (2000 , p. 82) “(a) to enable people to record and reflect their community’s strengths and concerns, (b) to promote critical dialogue and knowledge about important community issues through large and small group discussion of photographs, and (c) to reach policy makers and people who can be mobilized for change.” Wang has used this approach mostly for health-related research. Other researchers, like Duits (2010) , claim to use photo-voice but without the community improvement goal; these kind of studies more closely resemble participatory photography research.

Archival Photos

Many archival photos were originally taken for documentary or illustrative purposes. The most frequent use of archival photos is in some form of historical research. Today, digital archives are becoming common, making it easier to search for particular kinds of photos. However, it is also very demanding to work with thousands of photos on a particular topic ( Park, Mitchell, & de Lange, 2007 ). Photos are commonly of interest in newspaper or magazine research because they often are perceived as documenting or illustrating “objective” reality or providing evidence of historical events. For example, Martins (2009) includes a couple of photographs in her study of deaf pupils in a boarding school, illustrating and providing “proof” of the kinds of exercises the pupils had to do. A similar use of photos can be seen in Amsing and de Beer’s (2009) article on the intelligence testing of children with mental disabilities. Photos of the test and a testing situation show the reader “how things were done” in the testing of these children. However, in contemporary historical research, photos are critically examined with regard to how they construct an argument in interaction with the text in a particular context. Grosvenor and Hall (2012 , p. 26) emphasize the importance of examining archival photos in relation to the text when creating meaning because “(w)ords when used with images can anchor meanings; change the words and the original meaning can be displaced, even though the image that it captures remain the same.” A common problem with archival photos is that they are anonymous, in the sense that nothing is known about them; neither the photographer’s intentions nor the context in which they are taken ( Martin & Martin, 2004 ). Hence, the use of these kinds of photos for research is limited.

Photo albums are also a form of private or family archives. Because family albums and photos are very familiar to us as researchers, it is important to be aware of one’s own notions and constructions of families, of what one sees as a “normal family.” A reflexive approach is necessary so that the researcher does not impose his or her own views of families on the interpretation of albums. These kind of albums also bring forth an ethical issue, since photos often contain images of family members and other people who have not given permission for their photos to be part of a research project ( Allnutt, Mitchell, & Stuart, 2007 ).

Collier and Collier (1986) describe documentary photographs as “precise records of material reality.” Photographs document the world for further analysis at a later stage. However, Collier and Collier argue that many anthropologists have used photographs as illustrations but not as documentary data for research. Most anthropology and sociology researchers have themselves been photographers and often these photographs have been taken as illustrations or for documentary purposes.

Photographs Taken by Researchers

Traditionally, photographic surveys (see Collier & Collier, 1986 ) of, for example, visual aspects of workplaces or institutions were used as a way to systematically document and produce material to analyze so that the researcher could draw conclusions about working conditions, types of work, and the like. As Pink (2007) points out, the photos taken in these kinds of surveys do not say anything about whether the objects or physical surroundings are meaningful to participants or what meaning they hold for participants. In this case, the researchers decide on what they find interesting or potentially important enough to photograph. Photographs taken by researchers can also be used in photo-elicitation interviews, but, even so, it is still the researcher who sets the tone for what is important to discuss. It becomes the researcher’s interpretation of “reality” that is considered important and analyzed. In a well-known context, the researcher can provide both descriptive meaning as well as stories about each object (see Riggins, 1994 ), and this can make researcher-produced photographs very valuable for understanding processes. For example, Mitchell and Allnutt (2008 , p. 267) describe how it is possible in photo documentary research to follow “social transitions or change by identifying shifts in material objects, dress, and so on.” Rieger (2011) calls the study of social change “rephotography” and suggests it for studying social change with regard to places, participants, processes, or activities. Hence, in this way, detailed photographic surveys produce data to be analyzed rather than photographs for documentary and illustrative purposes.

There is no agreement on what the best approach is for researchers to take photos in the research setting. Some argue that by taking photographs immediately, at the beginning of the study when entering the scene, the camera can function as an opening device to create contact with the participants. Others argue that it is necessary for participants to get to know the researcher first, in order for them to feel comfortable with the camera and with being photographed.

Photographs Taken by Participants

Having participants take photographs, also called participatory photography , is the most frequently used photography method in social sciences today. Photographs taken by the participants for the purpose of, for example, photo-elicitation interviews encourage the participants to take a more active role in the research by indicating what is meaningful for them to discuss in the interview. It also gives participants more control over the interview ( Clark-Ibáñez, 2004 ; Majumdar, 2011 ). Some researchers prefer to call this type of photography, in which participants construct and take the photos, photo production ( Majumdar, 2011 ; Reavey, 2011 ). Radley (2011) points out that photos produced by participants also allow for interviewing about the circumstances of the production, which will give a more comprehensive insight into the participants’ intentions. However, even if the participants produce the photographs, the researcher’s presence is evident because the participants take the photos for the purpose of the research. In this chapter, I am not making a distinction between photographic interviews and photo-elicitation interviews. Most researchers less familiar with participatory photography tend to use the term photo-elicitation interviews as covering all kinds of participatory photography. The focus here is instead on the issues surfacing in participatory photography.

Clear instructions about the purpose of the research and the photographs need to be given to participating photographers. Even so, participants often deviate from the instructions. In a study in England on young people’s constructions of self and the connection to consumer goods, they were supposed to photograph goods they considered important. Instead, they all photographed mostly their friends. Hence, the participants redefined their task ( Croghan, Griffin, Hunter, & Phoenix, 2008 ). Commonly, participants are asked to take photos during the study, but frequently they contribute photos that were taken previously, but which they think exemplify the topic. For example, in a study of language minority ninth graders’ perceptions of their identifications and belonging to the Swedish language minority group in Finland, we ( Holm, Londen, & Mansikka, 2014 ) found this to be common. Because the study was done in the fall, they found it difficult to photograph some things they thought were important for their identification. Therefore, they brought in many photos of, for example, flowers and parties taken in the summer that they believed exemplified being part of the language minority group (Figures 19.1 and 19.2 ).

The flowers portray the beautiful Swedish language.

Crayfish is something we eat with our friends. We always do it with Swedish-speaking Finns.

Likewise, participants most often are asked to be the photographers themselves, but it is quite common for participants to ask others to take photos of them as well. In a study with doctoral students about what it means to be a doctoral student, several students asked others to photograph them instead, or they used previously taken photos in which they themselves were included ( Holm, 2008 a ). The photo in Figure 19.3 is taken by a friend of a student who is a participating doctoral student.

The time of the year influences the study in other ways as well. Especially in countries with dark, gloomy winter weather, wintertime photo projects will produce more indoor photos and dark, gray outdoor photos. In a study on elementary students’ perceptions of what community means to them and what their community consists of, the children took many outdoor photos of friends, their homes, and family cars, but the days when they happened to have a camera were overcast winter days. The indoor photos of their classrooms, schoolmates, and teachers are also quite gloomy despite the smiling faces. Hence, looked on out of context, there is a somewhat downcast mood over the photos even though their neighborhood is a very lush, green one with a vibrant street and porch life in the summer. Consequently, photos taken in summertime would have looked much more upbeat and cheery (Figures 19.4 and 19.5 ).

Photo of a doctoral student taken by a friend.

The time of year affects how photographs may look; this classroom photo was taken during the wintertime, which gives it a gloomy look.

The importance of clearly communicating to the participants in multiple ways the purpose of the research and the participants’ task cannot be overemphasized. The study of students’ perceptions of the meaning of community and their own community was originally a comparative study between a school in the United States and a school in Finland. The students in Finland were Finnish speakers attending an English-language school, and the researcher was American. The students understood that their task was to photograph their school community instead of their community in general, which resulted in photographs mostly of their friends at school.

Outdoor wintertime scenes may hide the true nature of an environment.

A weak common verbal language can also be overcome if participants express themselves through photographs. Veintie and Holm (2010) did a study of how Indigenous teacher education students from three different tribes thought of knowledge and learning in an intercultural bilingual teacher education institute in Ecuadorian Amazonia. Spanish was the common language, but it was also the second or third language for everybody. To ease the limitations for the students to express Indigenous thinking about these concepts in Spanish, the students took photographs that were then used as the basis for interviews. As researchers, we assumed that many photos about learning and knowledge would be related to schools and the teacher education institute because they were very prominent in the small community. Instead, the photographs portraying learning always involved people and actions and were mostly taken in the community (see Figure 19.6 ). In interviews, students also explained that learning is not given, but that learners are given the opportunities to observe and practice what is to be learned. Students also expressed knowledge as lived knowledge. Therefore, many students could not participate in the study because their families and homes were too far away to be photographed. Knowledge was grounded in their communities and their ancestors. The school-based photographs were only a small part of the pictures showing learning and knowledge. Instead, learning and knowledge were based on social interaction. Images like books, newspapers, internet, and television were completely absent because they held no meaning and were not present in the students’ lives. These aspects of knowing and learning would have most likely not emerged if the students would have only been interviewed.

Ethical Issues in Participatory Photography

Access to research sites for qualitative and especially ethnographic research can be difficult. Many institutional review boards (IRBs) and sites like workplaces, schools, and organizations are cautious about providing access, particularly to vulnerable populations like children and the ill. The very openness of the qualitative, ethnographic design may raise concerns. It is impossible to know in advance exactly what questions will be asked or what situations will be observed. Likewise, the analysis may be perceived as being too open and imprecise. These issues are often amplified with regard to including photography as a research method. The cautiousness is justified because the risks are higher when participants can be identified. There is no confidentiality if a photograph includes a person’s face. If the researcher is also the photographer, there is of course more control over what will be photographed, and the researcher can use his or her ethical judgment in each situation and refrain from taking photographs that could potentially harm or compromise participants or the research site. Conversely, if the participants are the photographers very clear instructions can be given about what should be photographed, but there is no guarantee that participant photographers will keep to the topic or particular settings. It then becomes the responsibility of the researcher to exclude potentially harmful or compromising photographs from being published or publically presented.

An Ecuadorian student’s photo of an object that represents community knowledge and learning.

Getting official permission and access is a first step, but securing informed consent from participants or the people who participants include in their photographs can be complicated. It is difficult to know if participants fully understand how their own photographs or the photographs of others might be used later. Publishing photographs in a book is easier to grasp, but the lack of control over photos on websites or explaining that they might be shown and discussed in conferences across the world is more complicated. Institutional review boards seem to perceive the risks for taking advantage of children as lower if the children themselves take the pictures ( Holm, 2008b ), which means that it is somewhat easier to get IRB approval for these kinds of studies. However, children taking photographs requires informed consent from guardians, beyond the informed assent of the children themselves. Involving children means more difficulties in gathering guardians’ consent and children’s assent forms. In most studies, some guardians will not give their consent despite their children wanting to participate; conversely, some guardians will give their consent but their children will not want to participate. One way to avoid having to exclude children who want to participate is to make the photography assignment part of a school or organization project in which all children participate, but only those with their guardian’s permission participate in the actual research.

Guardians are a form of gatekeepers, but more unpredictable gatekeepers are institutions such as schools, day care facilities, hospitals, and businesses or organizations. For example, in an ethnographic study of a school for pregnant and parenting teenage girls, the girls were going to photograph their lives as pregnant and/or parenting teenagers. However, after the study was set up, the school principal suddenly decided that the girls could not take photos of any males or of their children in diapers or taking baths. This restricted the girls so much that, in the end, they mostly took photos of each other posing at school. The restrictions were understandable, because there were several fights in school about the fathers of the babies (e.g., one man had fathered three children with three different girls) or the girls’ boyfriends who sometimes switched from one girl to another. Likewise, the restriction about not taking nude pictures of babies was understandable because the principal wanted to protect the babies from potential abuse, especially in light of the fact that several girls had themselves been abused in different ways. However, the restrictions were imposed on the girls without an explanation of why the rules had suddenly changed. These kinds of rules imposed from above reinforced the general management and control attitude of the school with regard to the girls’ schooling ( Holm, 1995 ).

Certain studies are difficult to do without the participants acting as co-researchers/photographers. Janhonen-Abruquah (2010) studied the daily transnational lives of immigrant women. The women kept photographic diaries of their everyday mundane activities, revealing the importance of cross-border communication between women in extended families living in different parts of the world. The women decided on what and who they photographed. Due to the often fairly private family situations portrayed, Janhonen-Abruquah decided to blur the faces in the photographs to protect the participants’ identities (Figure 19.7 ). This allowed photos of people to be used without obtaining permissions from everybody included, which would have been difficult for the women to do. However, if someone familiar with the women reads the study, it might be possible for him or her to recognize people in the photos based on surroundings or other features. Although this is a feasible way to deal with a difficult situation, it also objectifies the people in the photographs ( Wiles, Prosser, Bagnoli, Clark, Davies, Holland & Renold 2008 ) and makes them more remote and less interesting. Conversely, the alternative is not to use any photos, but merely describe them. In Newman, Woodcock, and Dunham’s (2006) study on bullying it was also essential to blur or box out faces to protect the children, but the photographs still give a sense of the bullying that gives additional information and understanding compared to a mere written description.

A similar situation emerged in the study of elementary school students’ sense of community. They had to take their own photos because much of their community was located at home, centered around their families, pets, toys, and bedrooms—places not accessible to the researcher.

Researcher (right) discussing with a research participant (left).

Preparations for Participatory Ethnography

Even though many people have some experience with cameras and photography, it is useful to have a session before the project to talk about the basics of photography. Even taking photographs for a research purpose requires some planning. For example, it might be useful to talk about how light and colors influence how a photograph is perceived (see Holm, 2008a ). Likewise, it is useful to talk about literal and metaphorical photos. How does one take photographs of abstract or missing things? Can the photographers manipulate their photos, now that it is fairly easily done if they have access to computers? Can the photographers bring an unlimited number of photographs, or do they have to pick a certain number of the most important ones? How will the participants deliver their photos to the researcher?

The issue of manipulation is no more important when using photography as a data collection method than in using other methods in qualitative research. Unethical researchers can always manipulate data. Interview and observation sections can be left out as easily as photographs are left unanalyzed. However, all manipulation is not the same. If it is the participants who manipulate/edit their own photographs, it could also be considered part of the data. Unedited and edited photographs could, for example, be compared to study differences between the current and desired situations. The difference between posing for a photo where clothing, pose, expression, and surroundings are arranged and editing a photograph can be marginal. They are both ways of arranging the photo to convey an intended message. The researcher manipulating photos for the purpose of misrepresentation is a very different issue. With digital photography, the total number of photos can become unmanageable. In a study in four countries on consumer behaviors of poor people, the group of researchers took 10,400 photos but analyzed only 612. In these kinds of cases, the question arises of why exactly these 612 were selected for analysis ( Lindeman et al., 2010 ). A detailed description of the elimination process would help dispel thoughts of manipulation due to the selection of certain photos.

If a group of people are to take photographs, a brainstorming session is useful at the beginning of the project in which participants generate ideas about what kinds of things might be possible to photograph. This is not about telling participants what to photograph but rather to encourage them to explore as a group possibilities for constructing and producing photos related to the research theme ( Holm et al., 2014 ). In the study on doctoral students’ perceptions of their studies mentioned earlier, we did not have a brainstorming session. When students as a group viewed everybody’s photos, there was real disappointment that they had not thought about photographing certain themes they considered very important. They also discovered that, as a group, they had forgotten certain themes altogether, such as the importance of fellow doctoral students, seminars, and professors. In other words, they were so overwhelmed by the life outside the university that, in most cases, they forgot to photograph the actual university scene ( Holm, 2008 a ).

Photography works well as a method for research and advocacy using the kind of concrete portrayal/documentation of problems used in photo-voice. Many researchers argue that young people are especially comfortable with and knowledgeable about photography. Many also argue that it is easier for young people and children to photograph and then discuss difficult and complicated issues. Especially when dealing with less verbal students or students with another first language, photography might be a good method ( Cremin, Mason, & Busher, 2011 ; Lodge, 2009 ; Sensoy, 2011 ; Wilson et al., 2007 ).

Habitus and Metaphorical Photographs

Bourdieu (1990 a ; 1990b ) and Sweetman (2009) also argue that photography can be used for exploring abstract and difficult-to-grasp concepts like habitus. Following their claims that photography is a possible way to explore habitus, we ( Holm et al., 2014 ) set out to study the habitus of Swedish-language minority speaking teenagers in Finland. How do these teenagers see themselves as being a member of a language minority group, and how do they perceive the entire group? The photos they took can be divided into two kinds. One kind was of literal depictions of Swedish-speaking theaters, newspapers, street signs, and the like (Figure 19.8 ).

The other kind was metaphorical photos showing, for example, being a minority group member, community, togetherness, feeling threatened, and being worried about the future of the language group (Figures 19.9–11 ).

Interestingly, in interviews, students had difficulty explaining what it means to belong to a language minority group. They had focused mostly on the language, whereas with the photos, they brought forth a variety of different aspects. In the photos, the language was just one aspect among many. The students also tended to use photographs of nature for their metaphorical visual statements. They often said in interviews that language minority members stick together and that they have a sense of belonging. In the photos, this was expressed through nature, as in Figures 19.12 and 19.13 .

The students photographed more deep-seated thoughts about the group’s future and stereotypes about the group, as well as their attachment to nature and the archipelago where many of their families originated. Likewise, Croghan, Griffin, Hunter, and Phoenix (2008) found that young people took photographs of sensitive issues related to their identity positions such as religion and race, issues that were not brought forth in interviews.

A literal photograph. One can understand both languages; street signs are in both Finnish and Swedish.

A metaphorical photograph showing the proportion of Swedes to Finns in Finland.

This kind of literal and metaphorical division can also be seen in photos taken by Palestinian children and youth living in refugee camps in Lebanon ( Mikander, 2010 ). They took photos to show what their lives are like. In this case, too, the children and the researcher had no common language. Here, too, there were many photos portraying their thinking, habits, and ways of being. An example of a literal photo isone of a living room wall. Interestingly, in this case, the viewer’s eye is drawn to the picture of Yasser Arafat, but the child who took the photo took it to show the hole in the wall. She wanted to show how they continue to live without permanent wiring, as if their housing was temporary (Figure 19.14 ).

A metaphorical photograph; Finland-Swedes are melting away slowly in Finland.

Finland-Swedes are like trees in a storm. Often we just bend, but if it is storming too hard we will break.

I think this little path is like the Finland-Swedes, all the rest around are the others in Finland.

A lone swan in the big sea like a Finland-Swede.

In Palestine, young people’s ways of thinking about their future can best be told through a series of photographs of a burning cigarette (Figure 19.15 ). They start out with full lives, with seemingly a lot of possibilities and hope. Their lives shrink with age and in a metaphorical way stop when they finish school because they do not have opportunities for further education. Dreams about future families are also hampered by the severe housing shortage. Hence, their life prospects are very limited.

Other abstract aspects of life, like absence, seem to be more difficult to photograph. In a study in which doctoral students photographed their lives as doctoral students, four photos of four different students’ families were very similar, but depicted different things. One was a Chinese wedding picture; another of a Korean mother, father, and child; a third one of a Ugandan mother with four children; and the fourth one of an American father with two children. In all photos, the people looked happy. Without an accompanying text, it was impossible to know how different their intended messages were. The American photo indicated that, for this doctoral student, her husband and children were her first priority even if the doctoral studies require much of her time. However, all the other photos indicated that the international students were studying alone in the United States and were missing their families, which had remained in their home countries. Hence, the question for them had been “How do you photograph the absence of someone?”Many of the issues, like ethical questions and habitus, brought up here in relation to participatory photography are also important for other kinds of photography in social sciences. However, they are often brought to the forefront in participatory photography because the participants are in charge of taking the photographs.

Analysis and Interpretation

No one “best” specific method exists for analyzing or interpreting photographs. In social science studies, most researchers use the same methods for photographs as for text. Early books on visual research methods (see, e.g., Collier & Collier, 1986 ) tended to give fairly precise instructions on how to organize, categorize, and compare photos in order to be able to conduct a good analysis. All researchers have to organize and group their photographs in some way, especially when we talk about hundreds and thousands of digital photos. However, researchers develop their own styles, often in connection with how they analyze their textual data. Many researchers use various software programs to organize photos; others group them by hand. However, categorizing or grouping photos is just a beginning, as with textual data. According to Harper (2003 , p. 195), taking and analyzing photographs is aided by theory, just as when collecting and analyzing any other kind of material. He also sees photographs as helping to build theory by forcing us to look at specific things in the field or to confirm theory. “Indeed, the power of the photo lies in its ability to unlock the subjectivity of those who see the image differently from the researcher.” Theory, the researcher’s own and the participants’ previous knowledge and experiences, previous research, and the participants’ descriptions of the photographs all contribute to an understanding of the photographs.

A Palestinian child’s photograph of a wall in her home; although the eye is drawn to the picture of Yasser Arafat, the child’s focus is on the hole in the wall.

How the analysis of photographs is done is not discussed much, if at all, in most research reports and visual research books, even though Ball and Smith wrote about analyzing visual data already in 1992. However, there is literature on various kinds of content analysis, iconography, semiotic analyses, and interpretive and other methods (see, e.g., Margolis & Pawels, 2011 ; Rose, 2012) . As Spencer (2011) points out, how a research study is designed, data collected, and results understood depends on the underlying paradigm. Therefore some researchers simply state that a study was analyzed based on a particular paradigm.

Content Analysis

A mostly quantitative content analysis is used for large numbers of photographs because it gives basic information about the frequencies of certain types of photos, on the basis of which various comparisons can be made. Rose (2012) gives fairly detailed steps to be followed to conduct a reliable content analysis. She emphasizes a careful selection of images and rigorous coding. However, Rose cautions that a high frequency count does not mean that the occurrence is necessarily important. In addition, frequencies neither indicate how strongly a photo exemplifies a category nor anything about the mood of photos. The intentions of the photographer are also excluded from a content analysis. Even though the analysis is quantitative, there is also a qualitative element in the interpretation of the frequencies and the presentation of the results.

Margolis and Rowe (2011) describe their use of a grounded theory approach to content analysis, which differs substantially from the one discussed by Rose. In their approach, the coding is theoretically based, which also allows them to pay attention to absent categories. Their categories overlapped, as opposed to the usual requirement of mutually exclusivity, and they also expanded the number of categories, as well as merged categories during the analysis.

The life opportunities of a youth in Palestine are metaphorically depicted as a burning cigarette.

Discourse Analysis

In popular culture studies, as well as in other social science research, various forms of discourse analyses are used in the analysis of photographs in relation to text. There is no specific visual discourse analysis, but Spencer analyzes specific images as examples of the use of discourse analysis. Rose (2012 , p. 195) makes a distinction between discourse analysis (DA) I and (DA) II, describing DA I as paying “rather more attention to the notion of discourse as articulated through various kinds of visual images and verbal texts than it does to the practices entailed by specific discourses.” Discourse analysis II she describes as working “with similar sorts of material, but is much more concerned with their production by, and their reiteration of, particular institutions and their practices, and their production of particular human subjects” (p. 227). Rose gives highly detailed and in-depth descriptions, with examples of how to conduct these kinds of discourse analyses. However, here it can be useful to remember that there are many different ways of doing discourse analysis (e.g., see Laclau & Mouffe, 1985 ).

Ethnographic Analysis

Many researchers use some kind of interpretivist analysis without being specific about it. Pink (2007 , p. 117) summarizes the ethnographic approach very well:

The academic meanings that ethnographers give to visual images are also arbitrary and are constructed in relation to particular methodological and theoretical agendas. Individual researchers classify and give meanings to ethnographic images in relation to the academic culture or discipline with which they identify their work. Moreover, ethnographers are themselves subjective readers of ethnographic images and their personal experiences and aspirations also inform the meanings they invest in photographs and videos. A reflexive approach to classifying, analyzing and interpreting visual research materials recognizes both the constructedness of social science categories and the politics of researchers’ personal and academic agendas.

Hence, an ethnographic approach entails using one’s already established or newly developed ways of organizing data. This organization and categorizing or beginning analysis might be quite intuitive and begin in the field. In many cases, the field and academic work intersect on a weekly basis, which influences how the researcher sees the data. In the academic setting, photographs are interpreted more closely from particular paradigms and theoretical frameworks and thus receive different meanings than in the field. In this kind of ethnographic approach, text and photographs are equally important and interact and inform the understanding of each other, as well as the relations between the two. The categorization in this approach differs from earlier approaches (see Collier & Collier, 1986 ) in that photos might be grouped in several different ways. They can, for example, be grouped according to the content, symbolic meaning, or origins of the photographers. Neither is the sequential order in which the photographs are taken necessarily important for the analysis because the photographers’ or participants’ thinking might not be linear. Rather, the way participants think about the way the photographs connect to themselves and their worlds might be more important.

At times, text and photographs might produce different but connected stories. Harper (2004 , p. 232) describes, with regard to Agee and Evan’s work on sharecroppers during the Depression, how the text and photos are juxtaposed and where “neither form repeats or replaces each other. Rather they develop in tandem.” In my research on the schooling of teenage mothers, the photos told the story of happy, playful girls posing alone or with other girls, but always without children. This was the story they wanted to show to outsiders. The text, on the other hand, told the story of the girls’ more private thoughts about their unhappy childhoods of abuse and abandonment, as well as their worries about being young mothers, often without any support network. Together, the two stories give a much fuller view of the girls than either one separately ( Holm, 1995 ).

Issues in Interpretation

The context of the production of the photos can be important. In our study of minority language teenagers’ perceptions of their own identifications, the geographical region in which they lived and produced their photos was closely tied to their identifications. Likewise, the larger societal context with regard to the general standing of the language minority group turned out to influence how worried the teenagers were about the future of the entire group. The academic context in which the photos are interpreted produces interpretations different from the ones in the field.

The interpretation of the photos will always vary somewhat from person to person depending on previous experiences. An interesting question arising here is how much the researcher needs to know and understand of the context in which the photo is taken. How much of the historical context do we need to understand in order to interpret archival photos? On one level, we can of course make some sense of photos of people living in difficult circumstances (as, for instance, during the Depression), but without the knowledge of this historical context our interpretation will be very superficial. Likewise, how much of the context do we need to know and understand of the participants who have taken photographs?

As researchers, we found in our study of the Swedish-speaking students’ photographs (see earlier description of the study; Holm et al., 2014 ) that having a habitus similar to the participating photographers facilitated the understanding of their photographs. Metaphorical photographs were especially easier to interpret. For example, photographs of the feeling of being harassed or that the future is somewhat insecure for the minority group immediately rang a bell in us. We had all had that feeling or experience at one point, although in different settings. Figure 19.16 shows the sun disappearing like the Swedish language is doing according to the student, and this feeling of doom is familiar to all Finland-Swedes, like the participants and the researchers in this case, who live in areas where the Finnish language is dominant. Without the text (or without an interview about the photos), this photo would simply be a photo of a beautiful sunset. Outsiders would get some sense of the situation from the text, but for the researchers living in the same societal context, the photo immediately brings to mind the larger debates about abolishing compulsory Swedish-language instruction from schools, hostile comments by members of an anti-Swedish (and anti-immigration) party, personal comments that Swedish speakers should emigrate to Sweden, and the like. Hence, knowing the societal context helps the researchers to more fully understand the deep thinking of the student taking the photo.

Swedish is disappearing from Finland (photo taken by Eva, a student participant).

In analyzing and interpreting photographs taken by participants, it is important to pay attention to photographs not taken as well, since they can be important. They can be missing because it is too difficult or painful to find ways of showing one’s thoughts, as Frith (2011) found in her study of women in chemotherapy who did not have enough energy to take photographs when they were feeling most ill. Other issues might be too intimate or sensitive. Missing photos can also be due to restrictions placed on the participating photographers by gatekeepers ( Holm, 1997 ).

There are numerous books about different kinds of analyses of photographs and visual data in general. However, most researchers do not recount in their articles what kind of analysis has been used. In the methods section of articles, researchers discuss what kind of data was collected and how it was collected, but few proceed to discuss what was done with the data after it was collected. Mostly, the data were “analyzed.” Some use phrases like photographs “can be read,” “in line with the social constructionist paradigm,” “we looked for salient patterns/images/issues,” and the like. The reason for this lack of discussion about the actual analysis might be that there is not one specific approach and that the field is relatively new for many researchers. Many researchers treat photos in the same way as verbal texts, but often not even basic information is provided about how this was done. Some researchers mention that photographs were categorized, but usually there is nothing more explicitly said about the analysis or interpretation.

Presentation of Research Using Photography as a Research Method

In social science studies, the most common way to present research using photography is still to translate most of the photographs into text, although more journals are willing to publish a few photographs as part of an article. However, only journals like Visual Studies, Critique of Anthropology , and Visual Communication will publish photo-essays in which most of the article consists of photos accompanied by short texts or captions and with the participants’ story ( Banks, 2007 ). There also tend to be more photos in books and book chapters than in journals. Pink (2007) discusses the possibilities of hypermedia presentations both in the form of CD ROM, DVD, and internet-based formats. Hypermedia holds a lot of potential for presenting multimodal data, but, as Pink also points out, has increased risk for manipulation of data that might change the importance and meaning of photographs, even though CD ROM and DVD provide limited access. E-journals are ideal venues because some of them, like Forum: Qualitative Social Research , are open-access journals and publish photography-based articles. Hypermedia online journal articles, like a special issue of Sociological Research Online , edited by Halford and Knowles, go a step further than regular online publishing by including, for example, live video clips. Although some researchers publish their work using photographs on websites, this is not a realistic option—at least not as the only venue—because most researchers today work in institutions requiring publishing in refereed journals.

Ethical Issues in Photography as a Method

Ethical issues have emerged throughout the chapter with regard to gaining access, securing informed consent, and promising confidentiality. Of foremost concern in photographic research is whether participants understand what informed consent means and for what purposes the photographs can be used. Institutional review boards are especially strict with regard to protecting participants from harmful or compromising photographs. However, many argue that it is not possible to foresee all possible situations in advance but that giving consent should be ongoing during the entire study ( Pauwels, 2008 ; Wiles et al., 2012 ). It is possible to produce consent forms in which participants specify what kind of uses they give consent to. For example, some participants may allow their photographs to be used for analysis but not for publication. Other participants might not want anonymity but instead want the viewers to know who they are and/or that they have taken a particular photograph ( Grinyer, 2002 ; Wiles et al., 2008 ), although this is not always possible if others are involved in the study. Conversely, there can be difficulties with photo release forms if someone is suspicious of signing forms ( Banks, 2007 ) or cannot understand the language or meaning of the form.

Ultimately, the researcher must make judgments about ethical issues surfacing during the course of the study. Respecting participants’ rights to refuse to be photographed or to photograph certain things has to be respected at all times. Likewise, it has to be possible to withdraw from the study at any time. In describing the difficulties of taking photos of very poor consumers in four different countries, Lindeman et al. (2010 , p. 9) describe how the fieldworkers were torn about doing what the study required in just a couple of weeks fieldwork or respecting people’s right not to want to be photographed or have their poor homes photographed. “The issue of interfering in peoples’ lives was also present when we wanted to take photos and videos. In principle we always asked for permission before filming or taking pictures, but in some instances we also had to take sneak picture of things of high importance to the research.” In the pressure to collect data quickly, they made poor ethical decisions.

Researchers using previously taken photos as well researchers working with new photos face questions of ownership and copyright ( Pink, 2007 ; Rose, 2012 ). With regard to new photos, some researchers try to prevent potential problems by stating the ownership on the forms for permission to conduct research. This might be a good idea, especially if the participants take the photos and think of them as their own.

Overall, collaborative research in which the photographs are more of a co-production might be a more ethical approach to visual research. Giving copies to and discussing them with the participants whenever possible is also a way to give the participants a better sense of which photos will be used and how they will be used. In using photography as a research method, the one aspect present in all studies and throughout the studies from the beginning to the end is the responsibility of the researcher to make good ethical judgments to produce research that does not harm participants in any way.

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Film Directing: Masters Essays on Cinematography Edited by Eugene Doyen

Twelve postgraduate essays studying the aesthetics and practice of cinematography from the era of B&W and Technicolor through to the use of digital production in the contemporary feature film

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Philip Cowan

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In a Stranger Field. Studies of Art, Audiovisuals and New Technologies in Fantasy, SciFi and Horror Genres

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From classic horror films to aestheticization in the digital age We live in an era in which any artistic manifestation receives aesthetic and conceptual influences from other fields, or from its past «I». Transversality, revision and homage have come to stay, and cinema is no stranger to this reality. While it is true that the new digital technologies allow us to revisit previous places, themes and aesthetics, but with a different result-due to the change of the means and tools used-, in the end, when we are in front of the screen, we recognize the heritage of those who, for more than a century, have contributed to creating the art of cinema. This thematic line has infinite ways or ramifications to deal with, but in this case we will address the influence, in current audiovisual productions-including in fantasy and horror films-of the aesthetic and expressive contributions around the cinematography that the Giallo introduced in his film contributions. It will be taken for this, as a notable example for the analysis, the work of Darío Argento and that of Mario Bava and other creators of this subgenre. In the same way, the work in the photography and art direction of these films and, in particular, the cinematographer Luciano Tovoli in the film Suspiria (1977) will be examined.

The evolution of the technical reproduction of colour in film has been categorised and studied in great detail. The aesthetic use of expressive colour has not had as much attention historical. Vacche's and Price's Color: The Film Reader seemed to spark a critical interest in this area. In this article, writing as a practising cinematographer, I outline a brief history of the discussions of the use of colour in film, examine two significant attempts to define a colour theory for film, Kalmus, and Storaro, and then discusses in detail my own practice in this area. The article concentrates on The Sleeping-Mat Ballad, a project commissioned by the Welsh National Opera (WNO) and The Space, and the short animation film The Separation. In both these films I explores the expressive use of colour, as a function of the cinematographer.

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El objetivo de este libro es centrar el enfoque en la obra de Gabriel Figueroa para mostrar las razones por las que sus imagenes han adquirido el nivel iconico que lo situa como un personaje medular de la cinematografia y la cultura de Mexico. Es analizar como y porque su obra se ha vuelto fundamental para las construcciones visuales de la identidad nacional. La intencion de esta investigacion es establecer , de forma critica, que la produccion filmica es inherentemente cooperativa, y reconocer asi la asociacion creativa tan cercana que existe entre fotografo y el director para construir el significado en una obra cinematorgrafica.

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Abstract Alexi Sofia, Film Studies, Victoria University of Wellington Abstract of Master’s Thesis, Submitted 10 April 2017: “Investigating Nordic Noir” Scandinavian crime films and television series have become popular in recent years. This thesis explores some of the key texts in ‘Nordic noir’ through a discussion of detectives, the environment, and visual style. The emphasis in the project is on textual analysis. The first chapter examines the figures of Wallander and Lund in Wallander and Forbrydelsen respectively. I argue that the conflicts Nordic detectives often have between work and the domestic sphere are an indication of how gender stereotypes are challenged in the Scandinavian crime genre. The second chapter considers the role of the natural and built environments in Nordic noir. Features such as forests and water play a crucial role in Forbrydelsen because of the ways in which they create uncertainty, anticipation, and suspense. The urban spaces of Bron/Broen develop a sense of anonymity that recalls the function of the city in classic film noir. Rather than developing links between Sweden and Denmark, the series suggests that the Øresund bridge that spans the two countries is ultimately a disconnecting, centrifugal force that functions as what Marc Augé would call a ‘non-place’. The final chapter considers the role of colour and light in the films Insomnia and Jar City. My analysis demonstrates that Nordic noir encompasses more than naturalism and realism. Like classic and neo-noir, it includes a range of expressive aesthetic strategies that serve both narrative and thematic functions.

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ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst

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The politics of inscription in documentary film and photography

Anne Beth Fischel , University of Massachusetts Amherst

This dissertation deals with the politics of cultural production in documentary film and photography. The axis of contemporary documentary production has shifted significantly, as people of color, women of all races and ethnicities, post-colonial peoples, and gays and lesbians, all of whom were traditional objects of documentary representation, have become active producing subjects. Yet post-structuralist cultural theory, which has significantly influenced film and photography studies, fails to account for, or support, acts of cultural production, focusing instead on the critical potential inherent in the moment of reception. This dissertation argues that an adequate theory of documentary production requires a producing subject, as well as a realist theory of language. It finds in Mikhail Bakhtin's writings on the novel a basis for theorizing the inscription of experience in language, and the practice of identity as the orchestration of the heteroglossic discourses that converge upon the self. It then links these reformulations of language, identity, and experience to key 20th century debates about realism, aesthetics, and the politics of image-making practices. Finally, the dissertation offers an extended critical analysis of photographer Anne Noggle's Silver Lining, and of the film Two Laws, a collaboration between an indigenous Australian community and two white Australian filmmakers. Silver Lining and Two Laws offer significant challenges to the politics of documentary production, and each in its own discursive mode shifts the basis of documentary practice from a mode of representation (the organization of pre-existing experience) to the active performance of reality.

Subject Area

Motion Pictures|Art History|Mass media

Recommended Citation

Fischel, Anne Beth, "The politics of inscription in documentary film and photography" (1992). Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest . AAI9219430. https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations/AAI9219430

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Photography Dissertation Topics

Photography is an art form worthy of critical attention, so it’s no surprise that many Arts and Culture students choose to write a photography dissertation. In particular, the technological innovation of photography coupled with its varying sociocultural impacts has encouraged many students to want to write a dissertation on photography. But how you should you go about choosing a topic for your photography dissertation? The following sub-sections provide suggestions on the most recent trends and innovations in photography, particularly concerning technological developments, ethics, and the evolution of photography trends.

Digital Photography

Photojournalism and communications, photography, ethical, cultural, and societal perspectives, the evolution of photography, photography and global politics, photojournalism during the covid-19 pandemic.

Digital photography emerged as a technological innovation during the 1990s, and since then, it has developed into a computer mediated approach to photography. The old methods of taking pictures have, therefore, been improved and enhanced by digital technologies. Also, it has not only replaced the silicon chips and old photography methods, but it has also introduced more advanced methods, as photography has now adopted the use of information technology. This could be an interesting subject area to examine if searching for topics related to technological trends and developments in photography. Examples of topics in this area are listed below:

How has digitalisation modified the position of photography in society?
The evolution to Digital Photography and its impact on photography methods.
A review of the current technologies, cultural methods, and the social practices of snapshot photography.
How has visual reporting transformed the landscape of news reporting and journalism?
An analysis of Visual Storytelling during the current era of Post-Industrialist Journalism.

Photojournalism refers to the process of reporting using either still or changing images. The development of photojournalism has been closely aligned with evolving technological trends, and photojournalists have adopted more enhanced approaches for reporting events. Nonetheless, the major core value of photojournalism remains significant, as photojournalists continuously search for the opportunity to witness significant events and share the evidence of such events. Photojournalism also focuses on highlighting important social topics and encourages discussions about public response. Therefore, this is an interesting research area if you are fascinated with journalism and photography. Some relevant topics in this area are listed below:

The impact of Mobile Technology on the significance and role of Photojournalism in the Society.
The challenges of Photojournalism: Realism, the nature of news and the philanthropic narrative.
How has the current era of network media and social media websites impacted on the Photojournalism?
Is Digitalisation destroying Photojournalism?
Exploring the relationship between the professional values of photojournalism and the process of digital photo editing and the generation of online news videos.
Reconsidering Photojournalism: Investigating the constantly shifting work routines and professionalism of Photojournalists in the Digital Era.

Since its early days, photography has prompted several debates with regards to its ethical application and misappropriation in society. Nonetheless, the creation of images has aided in the creation and communication of cultural identity and history. The current ethical, cultural, and societal perspectives about photography would be an interesting research area. Below are some suggestions of topics related to this area of photography:

Digital age and mass surveillance: The ethical perspective of visual photography.
The Integrity of digital images: The current principles and practices of image manipulation in document photography and photojournalism.
A study on visual photography, particularly the relationship between images, objects, and general photographic representations within the cultural and social contexts.
A critique of Visual Ethnography and Cultural Representation in Photography.
Compassion, integrity, and the media: Examining current issues in cultural photography.
Image ethics: The ethical privileges of the subjects in pictures, movies, and television.
Truth or Fiction? The impact of ethical and societal perspectives on media imagery during the digital era.
Professional photography and privacy: Are the personal ethics of a professional photographer adequate?

The field of photography has evolved over the past decade, with vast technical and theoretical developments to the standards of photography since it was created in 1839. Therefore, this is an interesting research area, as it gives you the opportunity to investigate the source of a specific innovation or method and examine any historical implications. The suggested research topics in this area are listed below:

The evolution from camera obscura photography and the era of photographic illusions to the current use of modern, digital, cameras for photography.
The effect of photography on historical events, including the Civil War.
The transformation of photography: How has the development of photography impacted Law and Culture?
An examination of the realism of Landscape Photography.
How has the use of modern photographic trends transformed news reports and the recording of significant social events?
What is the impact of photography on the evolution of social media websites and communication systems?
Closing the gap between Research and Practice: The Interrelationship between Photography and Hyper-realistic Art

Considering the current visual and digital era, it is apparent that images shape worldwide events and the society’s perspectives about them. Also, factors such as television programs and photographs impact on global politics as different phenomena are viewed, including wars, economic downturns, election advertisements, and humanitarian catastrophes. Therefore, visual politics have become the norm, with the use of digital platforms across the political spectrum, from extremist recruitment campaigns to social justice movements. Thus, this is an interesting research area, with a wide range of topics. Some of these topics are listed below:

A discourse analysis of how photography can be used to support political propaganda in the United Kingdom.
How does images and photographic representations of political activities impact global politics?
An exploratory review of the discourse and subjectivity of photographs within the political landscape.
What are the political functions of images and visual artefacts?
Photography and Politics: The impact of photography in the Political world.

The current Covid-19 pandemic has become one of the most severe pandemics of this era, with significant economic, societal, and political impacts. Therefore, this would be an interesting area of research, with a wide range of topics that can be investigated. Some of these topics are suggested below:

How are leading Photojournalists worldwide documenting the resulting impact of Covid-19 on societies?
Photojournalism: What are the ethical issues of reporting the impact of Covid-19?
What are the roles and responsibilities of photojournalists during the current pandemic?
A review of the approach to news reporting by photojournalists during Covid-19 pandemic.

Film, Photography and Media BA

Year of entry 2024, register your interest for open days 2024.

Bookings for our 2024 Open Days are not open, but you can sign up to be informed once dates are announced. Register your interest

Course overview

This course blends film, photography and media to help you develop the theoretical knowledge and practical skills needed to succeed in the fast-growing media sector.

You'll study film and photography in a research-led media school, considering key theories, debates and historical developments. This is combined with some creative practice, such as screenwriting and digital photography, to foster your creative and critical reflection skills.

While this is an academic degree, you’ll be able to explore production practices using our industry-standard facilities and understand how theory and practice can support each other.

Optional modules allow you to focus on film analysis and theory, develop skills in animation or scriptwriting, or to broaden the scope of your degree into the field of media and communication.

You’ll gain an understanding of the historical, theoretical, cultural and industrial contexts of film and photography, alongside mastering skills in production and post-production.

Specialist facilities

You’ll study in a supportive environment equipped with a range of industry-standard resources. As well as our extensive loans service for equipment such as digital recorders, video cameras, stills cameras and more, you’ll benefit from access to our darkroom and 40 editing suites equipped with the latest Avid video editing software and Photoshop.

Our 58-seat cinema screens films twice a week during term time, and is equipped with HD video projection facilities, 16mm and 35mm film projectors and Dolby Digital surround sound.

Take a 360 tour of our facilities .

Photography studio

Course details

Year 1 lays the foundations of the course by helping you to develop your academic and practice-based skills. Core modules introduce you to screenwriting, as well as camera, editing and photographic practices. You’ll then put these into context and build your critical skills with modules on the history and theory of film and communications, while learning more about research in communication and media to inform your practice.

In the following year, you’ll expand and enhance your skills as you work on a short film project and take further core modules in photography and cinema. You’ll also begin to specialise in topics that suit your interests, career plans and abilities, with optional modules ranging from motion graphics to issues of genre in cinema and the role of technology in communication and the media.

In your final year, you’ll choose from optional modules on topics such as audience research, mobile media, documentary journalism and international communication, and you could undertake a four-week work placement to gain hands-on industry experience.

To complete your studies, you’ll work on a major project based on your own interests. You could work on a script, compile a photography portfolio, make a short film with your peers, develop a moving image project or complete a written dissertation on a topic in communication and media.

Have a look at final year projects produced by previous students on this course.

Course structure

The list shown below represents typical modules/components studied and may change from time to time. Read more in our terms and conditions.

Compulsory modules

Introduction to Media and Communication Research (20 credits) – This module introduces the basic building blocks of media and communication research in order to support the reading, writing and research skills you'll require during your time in the School of Media and Communication. Highlighting the links between fundamental academic skills and research practice, the module allows you to explore how media and communication is studied, and how skills developed for a media and communication degree relate to both scholarly practice and media practice.

Camera and Editing (20 credits) – This module provides a basic grounding in the language, conventions, techniques and practices of micro-budget, mini-crew digital short video production. Providing a fundamental understanding of the complex nature of production, the module will equip you with the skills needed to work with creative clarity and technical efficiency within a small production team, whilst in charge of at least one key production element.

Introduction to Cinema (20 credits) – This module equips students with a broad historical overview of the principal developments in cinema history, from 1895 to the present day. Through a series of ten lectures and linked screenings, students are introduced to the form, culture, economics and ideology of the moving image.

Photographic Practices (20 credits) – This introductory module will introduce you to an understanding of the ontological and technological nature of photography. You'll study photographic techniques based on the analogue and intermediate digital production and editing of images. The module focuses on key analogue and digital photographic techniques, enabling you to situate your own practice within broader cultural discourses, and it will also develop ethical and legal frameworks and risk-aware practice.

Screen Narrative (20 credits) – This module is an introduction into screen narrative in film and television. Students learn how stories are constructed by examining characters and common dramatic structures across these forms of media. Students also learn how to use scriptwriting software and undertake screenwriting exercises in seminars. Knowledge and understanding is demonstrated through an assessed essay and through a short script project.

Optional modules (selection of typical options shown below)

The History of Communication (20 credits) – This module will give you an overview of the main themes in the history of communication. It has been designed to provide not only the story of communication and media, but also the context in which systems of communication were developed and used. The module provides the historical foundation to examine the processes and case-studies discussed in other Year 1 modules, and should continue to inform your understanding as you progress through your degree.

Photographic Histories (20 credits) – Exploring social, cultural and technological histories of photography between its commercial launch in 1839 and the present, this module examines a range of historical case studies and archival materials that illustrate the centrality of photography within the mass media. During the course of the module, you'll study how photography developed as a means of mass communication, a medium for the representation of society, a witness to war and social upheaval and as a growing social practice. You'll learn through the study and research of key bodies of historical materials and focus on a particular area of interest through an extended project.

Introduction to Media and Communication Theory (20 credits) – This module examines some of the main theoretical perspectives and arguments that underpin the study of media and communication. It considers the ways in which these perspectives are linked, why they continue to hold relevance for contemporary media scholars and how they help us to understand the role of mediated communication in society.

Prose: Reading and Interpretation (20 credits) – This module aims to lay a solid foundation for the study of English at university level through the analysis of a number of different prose texts. It explores the mechanics of prose writing and considers a range of critical and theoretical approaches to literature. By the end of the module, you will have developed as a reader and writer, with improved close reading skills, a greater understanding of critical tools and terminology, and an awareness of some of the conceptual issues raised by interpreting prose in English. Topics to be examined will include: genre; narrative form; writing and subjectivity; race and nation; literature and politics; gender difference; and authorship.

Race, Writing and Decolonization (20 credits) – This module provides an opportunity to study decolonizing texts in English by significant writers. The texts will be used to illustrate a variety of decolonizing strategies in relation to histories of slavery, colonization, racism and migration. The module will introduce you to major literary figures in fiction in the 20th and early 21st centuries and will suggest a variety of critical, theoretical and methodological strategies appropriate for the analysis of this work. On completion of the module, you'll have been introduced to key traditions in decolonizing thought and will have studied textual examples in detail.

Photography Theory and Practice (20 credits) – This module is designed to bring the theory and practice of photography together, through both research and creative experimentation, alongside critical and reflective writing on the subject. This will prepare you for more independent working at Level 3, particularly the Photography Project module. Together with study of the principles of photographic practice, history and theory, you'lll develop your own technical knowledge and creative approaches to the medium, through the development of a negotiated photography project.

Cinematic Themes (20 credits) – This module equips you with a thematic and theoretical overview of the various approaches to the study of the cinema. It will enable you to demonstrate knowledge of selected critical themes and theories and articulate their relevance to a scholarly understanding of cinema. You'll also assess the significance of cinematic themes as tools of ideology, and apply thematic and theoretical models to readings of individual films and/or the work of individual filmmakers.

Technology in Communication and Media (20 credits) – This module provides you with an academic understanding of the role of technology in media and communications. It illuminates critical and social issues generated by and through technology, discussing and analysing the relationship between technological developments and the societies in which those developments take place.

Podcasting (20 credits) – This module will equip you the creative knowledge and practical skills needed to envision, plan, record and produce your own podcast. Designed for sthose with no prior experience of media production, you'll develop your critical appreciation of storytelling in audio through the study and critique of a variety of podcasting formats. This module will require an ability to work independently (under supervision) and to think creatively about the possibilities of audio as a tool of mass communication.

Communication Skills (20 credits) – You'll gain an understanding of the qualities associated with effective communication and will develop the confidence and practical skills needed to communicate effectively in a range of situations, including academic life, social contexts and the workplace. The module takes a rigorous critical approach to communication norms and requires all students to engage in a series of practical workshops in which they will be urged to think about and work upon their own confidence, verbal expression and non-verbal behaviour.

Documentary Production (20 credits) – This is a practical module and designed to help you acquire a more in-depth knowledge of specific skills in the digital production industry. You'll develop an array of transferable skills in digital production, which can be built on during any subsequent modules that contain a practical component or may equally inform other aspects of your degree. The module is aims to ‘raise the bar’ with regards to production standards, and it will help you build confidence with the technical and procedural side of the digital media industry.

Screen Fiction (20 credits) – This module explores the narrative and aesthetic function of screen fiction in order to develop and deepen your own knowledge of how screen fiction works. This knowledge is then utilised in the development of your own, original short film script. This module builds on and develops critical thinking and creative practice established in Screen Narrative at Level 1 and prepares you for the extended Script Project at Level 3.

Digital Storytelling (20 credits) – This module examines forms of digital storytelling in the context of traditional and interactive narrative. It explores the role of digital storytelling in a range of social contexts. You'll develop the skills to create multiform narrative and digital stories that use narrative as a means to educate and entertain.

Students must select 40 credits from:

Moving Image Project (40 credits) – This module facilitates learning at advanced level on the principles and practices of a short moving image production, allowing you to demonstrate your creative, analytical and critical learning and personal development in the field of moving image production. You'll also produce a substantial piece of reflective, analytical writing in relation to the production, along with a critical evaluation of the completed project.

Script Project (40 credits) – Conducting and presenting the appropriate research required to identify and develop a story idea, you'll produce a well-structured and coherent short film script (30 – 50 pages) or television drama pilot or sitcom episode (30 – 45 pages + 5-page series bible) using the relevant standard layouts.

Cinema Project (40 credits) – This module facilitates learning at advanced level on the principles and practices of short film (digital cinema) production, through the fulfilment of at least one primary production role within a small-crew group production, allowing you to demonstrate your creative, analytical and critical learning and personal development in the field of cinematic production.

Photography Project (40 credits) – The dissertation centres on the ability to explore cultural, theoretical and historical ideas through a piece of academic writing and associated practice. The two elements combine together to allow for a reflective and critical dialogue between the processes involved in creating a portfolio and in the broader academic contexts which inform the thinking behind the photographs. You'll be expected to provide a written commentary exploring these relationships and situating the images they have produced within these discourses.

Communication Dissertation (40 credits) – This module provides you with an opportunity to undertake an independent research project and produce a dissertation on a topic of your own choice under the guidance of a supervisor. Lectures introduce you to the research design and structure of a dissertation, including how to develop a research question, how to produce and organise a literature review, how to choose and apply a research method, how to analyse data, and how to present findings and arguments. You'll receive individual tutorial support from an academic supervisor, but the emphasis is on independent study.

Students must also select 20 credits from:

The Documentary and Reality (20 credits) – This module provides you with an understanding both of the development of documentary forms and functions and the character of the debates about 'truth' which have surrounded documentary work since the 1920s. You'll explore major stages in the development of documentary practice; criteria used in the evaluation of documentary both by academics and by the public; key visual and verbal components of documentary organisation; narrative and observational structures in documentary; and current tendencies and new technology.

Themes in Contemporary Photography (20 credits) – This module examines key current debates in relation to photographic practices and is aimed at developing a reflective approach to the production and consumption of photographic images. You'll be encouraged to develop a critically reflective approach to image production and engage in current, cutting edge debates concerning issues such as ontology, realism, gender and racial representation, advertising and image historiography.

International Communication (20 credits) – This module explores the role of media and communication in the context(s) of globalization, with a special emphasis on the political and cultural implications of contemporary international/global communication practices and products. The module offers both a traditional 'international communications' approach to the study and critique of media and a more contemporary take on the role of other forms of communication (eg design, branding, visual imagery and/or urban environments) in 'global communication'. As well as studying theories, examples and cases, you'll develop your own original analytical and research work on specific dimensions of international/global communication.

Placement (20 credits) – You'll work under pressure in order to meet the exacting deadlines within a media or media-related industry. You'll be required to prove the intellectual and practical capabilities you have acquired at University within the professional industry environment and under the scrutiny of working professionals. The placement assessment develops your ability to critically reflect on practice in your chosen field.

Feminism, Identity and Media (20 credits) – On this module, you'll be introduced to the main theoretical and critical arguments and approaches associated with feminist media studies, exploring both the history of the field as well as contemporary debates. Through a series of ten one-hour lectures, you'll cover the key media and communication areas and issues including gender and new media, gender and television, gender and advertising, gender and PR and gender and music. Topics covered include the politics of representation; feminist theories of narrative and identity; the role of women in the media industries and the relationship between feminism and new media.

Understanding the Audience (20 credits) – An introduction to the main approaches to understanding the relationship between audiences/users and media. You'll consider the development of the concept audience, exploring empirical research and theoretical arguments from a range of perspectives including how scholars have conceptualised the audience, how media industries view the audience, as well as, addressing contemporary debates about the usefulness of the category ‘audience’ in the contemporary media context.

Learning and teaching

You’ll learn under the guidance of academic teaching practitioners and researchers using a range of teaching and learning methods, giving you the knowledge and skills needed for a career in this industry. These methods will include practical classes, as well as lectures, seminars and tutorials.

In addition, you’ll have a reading list for each module and independent study is a crucial part of the degree, allowing you to develop your own ideas, creativity and understanding. Your tutors will be available during their office hours to discuss any issues or questions that arise.

On this course, you’ll be taught by our expert academics, from lecturers through to professors. You may also be taught by industry professionals with years of experience, as well as trained postgraduate researchers, connecting you to some of the brightest minds on campus.

On this course you’ll be taught by our expert academics, from lecturers through to professors. You may also be taught by industry professionals with years of experience, as well as trained postgraduate researchers, connecting you to some of the brightest minds on campus.

We use a variety of assessment methods so you can demonstrate different skills. These will include practical production coursework, team presentations, group projects, essays and exams.

Entry requirements

A-level: AAB including one arts, humanities or social science subject. Excluding general studies and critical thinking.

If you’re taking the Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) you may receive an alternative offer alongside a standard offer. In this case, the typical offer would be ABB plus grade A in the EPQ.

You don't need to submit a portfolio of work for this course, but you may consider linking to examples of your work in your personal statement.

Alternative qualification

Access to he diploma.

Offers are made on an individual basis- typically a Pass with 60 credits overall including 45 credits at Level 3, of which 30 should be at Distinction and 15 at Merit level.

Cambridge Pre-U

International baccalaureate.

35 overall (16 at higher level, with 5 at higher level in English or 6 at standard level).

Irish Leaving Certificate (higher Level)

H2 H2 H2 H2 H3 H3 AAAABB (pre-2017)

Scottish Highers / Advanced Highers

AB in Advanced Highers and AABBB in Highers A in an Advanced Higher and AABBB in Highers AAAABB in Highers

Welsh Baccalaureate

Please note that we don’t currently accept the Welsh Baccalaureate.

Other Qualifications

European Baccalaureate: 80% overall.

Find your country to see equivalent international qualifications.

Read more about UK and Republic of Ireland accepted qualifications or contact the School’s Undergraduate Admissions Team.

Alternative entry

We’re committed to identifying the best possible applicants, regardless of personal circumstances or background.

Access to Leeds is a contextual admissions scheme which accepts applications from individuals who might be from low income households, in the first generation of their immediate family to apply to higher education, or have had their studies disrupted.

Find out more about Access to Leeds and contextual admissions .

Arts and Humanities with Foundation Year

This course is designed for students whose backgrounds mean they are less likely to attend university (also known as widening participation backgrounds) and who do not currently meet admissions criteria for direct entry to a degree.

The course will give you the opportunity to be taught by academic staff and provides intensive support to enable your development of academic skills and knowledge. On successful completion of your foundation year, you will progress to your chosen degree course. Find out more about the Arts and Humanities with Foundation Year

International

International foundation year.

International students who do not meet the academic requirements for undergraduate study may be able to study the University of Leeds International Foundation Year. This gives you the opportunity to study on campus, be taught by University of Leeds academics and progress onto a wide range of Leeds undergraduate courses. Find out more about International Foundation Year programmes.

English language requirements

IELTS 6.5 overall, with no less than 6.0 in any component. For other English qualifications, read English language equivalent qualifications .

Improve your English If you're an international student and you don't meet the English language requirements for this programme, you may be able to study our undergraduate pre-sessional English course , to help improve your English language level.

UK: £9,250 (per year)

International: £24,500 (per year)

Tuition fees for a study abroad or work placement year If you take a study abroad or work placement year, you’ll pay a reduced tuition fee during this period. For more information, see Study abroad and work placement tuition fees and loans .

Read more about paying fees and charges .

There may be additional costs related to your course or programme of study, or related to being a student at the University of Leeds. Read more on our living costs and budgeting page .

Scholarships and financial support

If you have the talent and drive, we want you to be able to study with us, whatever your financial circumstances. There is help for students in the form of loans and non-repayable grants from the University and from the government. Find out more in our Undergraduate funding overview .

Apply to this course through UCAS. Check the deadline for applications on the UCAS website .

This course is not accepting applications for deferred entry.

We typically receive a high number of applications to our courses in the School of Media and Communication. The number of applicants exceeds the number of places available so, to ensure that we treat all applications fairly and equitably, we wait until after the UCAS equal consideration application deadline has passed before making a final decision on applications.

If we put your application on hold for review after the UCAS application deadline, we will send you an email to let you know. Although you may have to wait longer than usual to receive a decision, you will hear from us by mid-May at the latest, in line with the deadline that UCAS sets universities for making decisions on applications submitted by the January UCAS deadline.

Offer decisions are made based on an overall review of applications including predicted grades, breadth of knowledge demonstrated through qualifications, personal statement, extra-curricular and work experience, and contextual information. We look for enthusiastic and talented students who have the potential to succeed in their studies with us and contribute to our community.

Read our admissions guidance and see ‘Application decisions’ for details.

All courses in the School involve rigorous theoretical study, research and presentation. All applicants must therefore provide evidence of completing, or working towards completing, a Level 3 (for example, A Level) Arts/Humanities qualification that demonstrates their ability to research a topic and present high quality written work. In some cases, applicants may also be asked to provide examples of completed essays or assignments in order to assess their suitability.

As part of your application, you'll need to submit a personal statement. Read our guidance on writing your personal statement .

International students apply through UCAS in the same way as UK students. Our network of international representatives can help you with your application. If you’re unsure about the application process, contact the admissions team for help.

Read about visas, immigration and other information in International students . We recommend that international students apply as early as possible to ensure that they have time to apply for their visa.

Admissions policy

University of Leeds Taught Admissions Policy 2024

This course is taught by

School of Media and Communication

School of Media and Communication Undergraduate Admissions

Email: [email protected] Telephone:

Career opportunities

This course will allow you to develop your creative and technical skills across three different yet related disciplines, along with in-depth theoretical knowledge and important transferable skills in communication, visual and critical awareness, writing, interpretation, project management and research.

Our graduates are recruited by a variety of prestigious companies in different sectors of the media and creative industries, including film and TV production companies, web-based companies and advertising and marketing agencies. Others pursue postgraduate study or freelance work, while some go on to start their own businesses and form independent production companies.

Careers support

Within the School, we offer opportunities for you to attend talks and workshops led by industry professionals to help you gain insight into a career in the film, photography and media industries.

Find out more about careers and employability at the School of Media and Communication.

We encourage you to prepare for your career from day one. That’s one of the reasons Leeds graduates are so sought after by employers.

Leeds for Life is our unique approach to helping you make the most of University by supporting your academic and personal development. Find out more at the Leeds for Life website .

The Careers Centre and staff in your faculty provide a range of help and advice to help you plan your career and make well-informed decisions along the way, even after you graduate. Find out more about Careers support .

Study abroad and work placements

Study abroad.

On this course you have the opportunity to apply to spend time abroad, usually as an extra academic year. We have over 300 University partners worldwide and popular destinations for our students include Europe, the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Africa and Latin America.

Find out more at the Study Abroad website .

Work placements

Practical work experience can help you decide on your career and improve your employability. On this course you have the option to apply to take a placement year module with organisations across the public, private and voluntary sectors in the UK, or overseas.

Find out more about work experience on the Careers website .

If you don’t want to spend a full year on a placement, you can still choose to take the optional placement module, which gives you the chance to spend around four weeks working at a company or organisation within the media or a related industry. We have excellent links with the local, regional and national creative industries, ensuring that you have the opportunity to gain hands-on experience that complements your learning.

Find out more .

Related courses

Arts and humanities with foundation year ba, communication and media ba, digital media ba, global creative industries ba, journalism ba.

Bibliography
More Referencing guides Blog Automated transliteration Relevant bibliographies by topics
Automated transliteration
Relevant bibliographies by topics
Referencing guides

Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Photography in the Fine Arts'

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Smith, Timothy J. "At the Intersection of Painting and Photography." The Ohio State University, 2012. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1343806810.

Garza-Meza, Laura Elizabeth. "Photography as a spiritual technique." Thesis, Pepperdine University, 2013. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=3558387.

The purpose of this study is to compare the spiritual benefits of practicing photography to the spiritual benefits of practicing prayer, meditation and yoga. Benefits noted were divided into the 4 dimensions of being human: physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual. The study considers Mexican leaders' perceptions of photography as a spiritual practice. A total of 105 Mexican leaders answered surveys. Of the 105 leaders, 14 were professors, 30 were entrepreneurs, 46 were business executives and 15 were students and homemakers (listed as "other") varying in ages from 21 to over 61.

The design of this study is descriptive, while the study was quantitative in nature. In preparation for the study, the researcher gathered qualitative information regarding the benefits observed as leaders practice photography. These descriptive answers were then used to create the quantitative surveys for the study.

The data demonstrated that photography can be considered a spiritual technique. First, the spiritual benefits shown from practicing photography mirror, to a large degree, the spiritual benefits reported for practicing prayer, meditation, and yoga. The literature also supports the reported similarities; however, participants do not consciously recognize these benefits. Second, the 4 dimensions of being human (physical, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual) are divided into 5 factors: (a) physical well-being and better decision-making, (b) optimism in life, (c) interrelation with the environment and intellectual development, (d) relaxing, and (e) spiritual growth.

Naude, Irene. "The Ontology of Photography Visually Analysed through the Camera Obscura." Thesis, University of Pretoria, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/2263/58764.

Shanks, Sarah M. "Re:Visions : A Mother's Secondary Images." Ohio University / OhioLINK, 2014. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1417785128.

Zhu, Christine. "Rejecting the front row| Guy Marineau and the evolution of runway photography." Thesis, Fashion Institute of Technology, SUNY, 2015. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=1603005.

This paper is a review and discussion of the career of French runway photographer, Guy Marineau. It specifically explores his tenure at Fairchild Publications between the years 1975-1985, contextualized by his personal experience and the history of the fashion show. Prior to shooting the runway, Marineau photographed conflicts in Portugal and Israel. Traumatized by war, Marineau, decided to realign his career towards capturing beauty.

Fashion shows emerged around the turn of the century, and press coverage of them has been long fraught with complications due to the threat of copyists reproducing unlicensed designs. During the mid-1950s John Fairchild tirelessly challenged the strict embargo set by the Chambre Syndicale that restricted the immediate release of images taken at couture shows. Yet by the 1960s, the demise of the haute couture was imminent, and couturiers resorted to licensing to keep their houses afloat, which in turn, reestablished their relationship with the press.

Since his start at Fairchild Publications, Marineau approached runway photography through the eyes of a war photographer. Marineau's work improved vastly as he grasped how to shoot fashion shows and was one of the first to challenge the established protocol by leaving his editor for the end of the runway. His photographs kept pace alongside his continuously evolving subject, the fashion show, and with advancements to camera technology. Relatively unknown, Marineau's work remains an undiscovered wealth of fashion history. His photographs are a testament to the once-diverse genre of runway photography that is slowly being replaced by the standardized runway photographs now linked with fashion websites.

Rawles, Erica M. "The Changing Meanings of Memory, Space, and Time in Photography." Scholarship @ Claremont, 2017. http://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/1520.

Ballard, Heather. "Unfixed." The Ohio State University, 2018. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1524065963902847.

Mercure, Tammy. "Big Rock Candy Mountain: Photographs of the Great Smoky Mountain Tourist Towns." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2009. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/1815.

Powell, Amy L. "Erica and I: A Photographic Battle with Perception." The Ohio State University, 2010. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1285059415.

West, Stephanie Brooke. "Mimicking the Body, Mimicking the Sculpture." The Ohio State University, 2011. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1308083690.

Grenley, Devin. "Women’s Empowerment Through The Erotic." Scholarship @ Claremont, 2013. http://scholarship.claremont.edu/scripps_theses/292.

D'Onghia, Danielle M. "Windows to Reverie: A Photography Exhibition of Works by Danielle D’Onghia." Ohio Dominican University Honors Theses / OhioLINK, 2013. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=oduhonors1368528376.

Thomas, Caroline. "Performing the Uncanny: An Exploration of Self Through Alternative Process Photography." Scholarship @ Claremont, 2016. http://scholarship.claremont.edu/scripps_theses/789.

Kenney, Jeffrey. "Alghe Mist." VCU Scholars Compass, 2011. http://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/2538.

Sheridan, Jon-Phillip. "Plex." VCU Scholars Compass, 2011. http://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/2491.

Castoro, Manila. "The decisive moment and the moment in between : Kairos, Tyche and the play of street photography." Thesis, University of Kent, 2016. https://kar.kent.ac.uk/60420/.

Wilson, Kathryn. "Cinematrope." ScholarWorks@UNO, 2013. http://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/1678.

Higgins, Josephine. "Seeing death : portraiture in contemporary postmortem photography." Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14152.

Hillman, John. "Photography and its failure to represent." Thesis, University of the Arts London, 2018. http://ualresearchonline.arts.ac.uk/13348/.

Roussos, Meg. "BLAZE." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2019. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/3670.

Cloud, Joshua D. "Making with Caution." The Ohio State University, 2011. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1306780837.

Harkin, Patrick. "Prime, Perform, Recover." VCU Scholars Compass, 2017. https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/5276.

Baczeski, Lillianna Marie. "Dictionary for Looking and Seeing." The Ohio State University, 2016. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1460805733.

Hope, Ashley W. "The Everyday Universe." ScholarWorks@UNO, 2018. https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/2517.

Nieberding, William J. "Photography, Phenomenology and Sight: Toward an Understanding of Photography through the Discourse of Vision." The Ohio State University, 2011. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1308249027.

Isenogle, Melanie R. "Anna Atkins: Catalyst of Modern Photography Through The First Photobook." Bowling Green State University / OhioLINK, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1522796885194359.

Huang, Yi-hui. "An Interpretivist Study of Knowledge Provided by Seamless Digital-Synthesized Photographs." The Ohio State University, 2008. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1214941623.

May, John Edwin. "The McFarlands: "One Season"." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2010. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/1719.

Ehmann, Christina. "American Splendor." VCU Scholars Compass, 2016. http://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/4102.

Spickard, Kristen R. "Patterns." The Ohio State University, 2012. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1343703458.

Smith, Anthony Earl. "Double Zero." VCU Scholars Compass, 2015. http://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/3837.

Dawes, Jason. "The Value of Everything is Nothing." CSUSB ScholarWorks, 2014. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd/248.

Thompson, Andrew. "Light Sensitive." CSUSB ScholarWorks, 2015. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd/245.

Magill, Carlie Shaw. "Gifford Pinchot's Photographic Aesthetic." The University of Montana, 2008. http://etd.lib.umt.edu/theses/available/etd-05302008-103548/.

Proulx, Janelle. "Necessary Movements." VCU Scholars Compass, 2014. http://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/3382.

Kozlowska, Agnieszka. "Taking photographs beyond the visual : paper as a material signifier in photographic indexicality." Thesis, Northumbria University, 2014. http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/16882/.

Doubt, Emma. "Portraiture, material culture and photography in the Cherokee Nation's "first family", 1843-1907." Thesis, University of Sussex, 2018. http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/74674/.

Levacy, Megan Renee. "Eulogy." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2011. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/1265.

De, Panbehchi Maria L. "Nostalgia and iPhone Camera Apps: An Ethnographic Visual Approach to iPhoneography." VCU Scholars Compass, 2016. http://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/4639.

Sullivan, Emily. "Dystopia." [Kent, Ohio] : Kent State University, 2010. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc%5Fnum=kent1272398862.

Fine, Jenny. "Performing Tenderness." The Ohio State University, 2010. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1276799884.

Tinaut, Maria. "Construction of an album for oneself." VCU Scholars Compass, 2017. http://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/4818.

Page, Paul Scott. "Maps to Non-Existent Places." The Ohio State University, 2015. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1430858356.

Brown, Christopher Shawne. "Exegesis." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2008. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/1903.

Simon, Janet. "Memoria : an exploration of longing, desire and transcience in the everyday." Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 2001. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/25865.

Iseman, Stephen Dane. "Showing as a way of saying : the photograph and word combinations of Lewis Hine in support of child labor reform /." Connect to resource, 1993. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc%5Fnum=osu1113497089.

Levitsky, Maria. "Invisible Cities: Photographic Fictions of Architecture." ScholarWorks@UNO, 2012. http://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/1457.

Gorham, Elizabeth Trabue. "Boundaries." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2011. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/1395.

Sugla, Sarika Devi. "In search of the spirit." Thesis, The University of Iowa, 2014. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=1560702.

Escobar, Mayte. "The Body As Border: El Cuerpo Como Frontera." CSUSB ScholarWorks, 2015. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd/247.

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Photography Dissertation Topic Ideas
Photography Dissertation Topics. Topic no.1: photojournalism during Arab spring. Topic no.2: Scope of photography in the age of social media. Topic no.3: Photography and ethics. Topic no.4: Photography and the reflection of culture. Topic no.5: Photography and advanced editing trend. Topic no.6: Impact of photo manipulation and self-image.
Dissertations
Dissertation: The Toy Like Nature: On the History and Theory of Animated Motion. Chair: Daniel Morgan. Readers: Marcia Landy (English), Mark Lynn Anderson (English), Scott Bukatman (Film & Media Studies, Stanford University) Colleen Jankovic , Copyeditor, Grant Writer, and Writing Project Consultant.
Thesis Examples
MFA Photography and Integrated Media Thesis Menu (2013-2022) Cotton Miller - The Limbo of Loss - 2013. ... Homing Instinct is an exploration of walking and the physicality of film photography as it mirrors a poetic and visceral connection to the land. An ephemerality lingers within the work-a longing to experience and hold on as larger ...
Film Studies Research Guide: Research Topics
This section of the Film Studies Research Guide provides assistance in many of the particular subjects in Film Studies. The pages discuss particular issues and list key resources on those topics. You can get to the topical pages from the main navigation bar above or from the links below. The links are listed alphabetically. Animation
Film Studies (MA) Theses
Below is a selection of dissertations from the Film Studies program in Dodge College of Film and Media Arts that have been voluntarily included in Chapman University Digital Commons. Additional dissertations from years prior to 2019 are available through the Leatherby Libraries' print collection or in Proquest's Dissertations and Theses ...
PDF MAKING FILM INDEPENDENTLY: CREATING A SHORT FILM
By making this film, from development all the way to post production, I learned valuable lessons from the mistakes I made and the multiple tasks I took on at once. Because of the many hats I wore for this film, and the tiny crew that helped make the film, certain important aspects of the process didn't get the attention they deserved. The
Dissertations and Career Paths
Ph.D. 2013. Kris Fallon. Assistant Professor of Cinema and Digital Media, University of California, Davis Dissertation: "Where Truth Lies: Political Documentary Film & Digital Media, 2000-2010". Jisung Kim. Dissertation: "The Initimacy of Distance: South Korean Cinema and the Conditions of Capitalist Individuation".
PDF Cinematography and Filmmaking Research: Reflections on a Practice-led
the thesis through a layered approach to writing. Lighting, in a traditional filmmaking context, is the principal responsibility of a ... a film within which light can play an integral role, making a creative contribution to the production. On one level, light is fundamental to the way that we perceive and interact with the
Dissertations / Theses: 'Film photography'
List of dissertations / theses on the topic 'Film photography'. Scholarly publications with full text pdf download. Related research topic ideas.
Film Studies Theses
When the place speaks : an analysis of the use of venues and locations in the international film festival circuit . Li, Peize (2023-11-30) - Thesis. This thesis examines how film festival venues participate in shaping broader film cultures. It proposes an approach to studying film festivals that is founded on looking at their physical spaces ...
19 Photography as a Research Method
Abstract. This chapter discusses the development of photography as a research method in social sciences. It describes the different types of photographs used, such as archival photographs and photographs taken by the researcher, and it focuses especially on photographs taken by participants. The uses of different approaches to obtain ...
Film, Photography and Media MA
The research interests and practice of your tutors inform the content of the course. Throughout the MA in Film, Photography and Media, inclusive learning approaches are used to engage you in critical thinking, debate, and collaboration. Various types of group work may be involved, including interactive lectures and forums for online discussion.
Film Directing: Masters Essays on Cinematography Edited by Eugene Doyen
In order to address this imbalance a new approach to attributing authorship in film needs to be implemented, which acknowledges co-authorship in collaborative film-making. By taking established auteur methodologies Philip Cowan, himself a practicing Director of Photography, analyses the role of cinematographers, and proposes new ways of ...
The politics of inscription in documentary film and photography
This dissertation deals with the politics of cultural production in documentary film and photography. The axis of contemporary documentary production has shifted significantly, as people of color, women of all races and ethnicities, post-colonial peoples, and gays and lesbians, all of whom were traditional objects of documentary representation, have become active producing subjects.
Chapman University Digital Commons
This thesis proposes that the films and filmmakers associated. with vulgar auteurism are connected through how they uniquely portray life in the early 21st. century using three of Tony Scott's late-period films: Man on Fire (2004); Déjà Vu (2006); and. The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009).
Photography Dissertation Topics for FREE
The current ethical, cultural, and societal perspectives about photography would be an interesting research area. Below are some suggestions of topics related to this area of photography: Digital age and mass surveillance: The ethical perspective of visual photography. The Integrity of digital images: The current principles and practices of ...
Film, Photography and Media BA
This course blends film, photography and media to help you develop the theoretical knowledge and practical skills needed to succeed in the fast-growing media sector. You'll study film and photography in a research-led media school, considering key theories, debates and historical developments. This is combined with some creative practice, such ...
The Director's Method in Contemporary Visual Effects Film: The
This dissertation aims to analyse how the use of digital effects in contemporary film influences the director's method. At a technical level, the use of di gital effects imposes
PDF Methodology of a Qualitative Study of Film
Arts based research is... "engaged in for a purpose often associated with artistic activity: arts-based research is meant to enhance perspectives pertaining to certain human activities". "defined by the presence of certain aesthetic qualities or design elements that infuse the inquiry project". (Barone & Eisner, 1997, p.
(PDF) Title: The Creative Process of Film Adaptation: Bridging
Bridging Literature and Cinema. Abstract: This thesis aims to delve into the intricate art of film adaptation, focusing on the. process of translating literary works into compelling cinematic ...
(PDF) Artificial Intelligence and Contemporary Film Production: A
Abstract. This text, a draft extract from my PhD thesis, provides an initial survey of existing artificial intelligence techniques and tools employed throughout film production processes. The ...
Dissertations / Theses: 'Photography in the Fine Arts'
Consult the top 50 dissertations / theses for your research on the topic 'Photography in the Fine Arts.'. Next to every source in the list of references, there is an 'Add to bibliography' button. Press on it, and we will generate automatically the bibliographic reference to the chosen work in the citation style you need: APA, MLA, Harvard ...
Dissertation Survey : r/filmphotography
As part of my studies I am required to complete a 7000 word dissertation. My chosen topic is about film photography and the potential for innovation within the format. As part of my primary research I am releasing a survey to fill out, it should only take around 10 minutes to complete.

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Photography Dissertation Topics

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2022 Photography Dissertation Topics

Topic 2: Investigating the influence of digital photography evolution on the photography methods and affinity towards the profession.

Topic 3: An evaluation of the present technologies and cultural methods associated with snapshot photography.

Topic 4: Evaluating the impact of visual storytelling on the changing landscape of mass media and society.

Topic 5: An investigation into the impact of mobile technology on the choices of photojournalism and its associated professional values in society.

Topic no.1: photojournalism during Arab spring

Topic no.2: Scope of photography in the age of social media

Topic no.3: Photography and ethics

Topic no.4: Photography and the reflection of culture

Topic no.5: Photography and advanced editing trend

Topic no.6: Impact of photo manipulation and self-image

Topic no.7: Art of photography in the 1800s

Topic no.8: Role of director of photography in a movie

Topic no.9: Photojournalism during the pandemic

Topic no.10: Instagram; a photo-sharing medium

Topic no.11: Photography and storytelling

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Topic no.12: Risks of wildlife photography:

Topic no.13: Photography vs. painting

Topic no.14: Trends in wedding photography

Topic no.15: Nature photography:

Topic no.16: Evolution of camera

Topic no.17: Photography lenses and specialties

Topic no.18: Improvements required in photography

Topic no.19: Photo manipulation and their repercussions:

Topic no.20: War photography:

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