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Turning around the camera: Self-portraits of an anthropologist on Instagram

  • Joshua Bluteau

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    197 Downloads (Pure)

    Abstract

    This photo essay explores the practice of digital self-portraiture as an epistemological practice. Drawing on the well-established role of photography within the anthropological canon, this photo essay looks with a new criticality on the act of self-portraiture by an anthropologist as both performative praxis and ethnographic tool. Employing a series of digital photographs taken in Venice, this essay explores how the practice of taking self-portraits to enrich an Instagram self is a vital step in the ethnographic research of social media. Allowing the researcher to engage with the practices of their interlocutors through performing the same actions as they do.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)87-101
    Number of pages15
    JournalEthnography
    Volume27
    Issue number1
    Early online date21 Feb 2023
    DOIs
    Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 21 Feb 2023

    Bibliographical note

    This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).

    Keywords

    • Instagram
    • Self-portraiture
    • anthropology of dress and adornment
    • digital anthropology
    • experimental anthropology
    • menswear
    • photography
    • selfie
    • smartphone
    • social media
    • visual anthropology

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Cultural Studies
    • Anthropology
    • Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)

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