Herald reporter McGinnis wins award for photography

For the third year in a row, the Calgary Herald's education reporter has been honoured for her work by the province's teachers.

But, after two years of being recognized for her writing, Sarah McGinnis has this time been given an award by the Alberta Teachers' Association for her photography.

The image of young soccer players linking arms as they observed a moment of silence for 13-year-old Jason Louie -- who was found dead with his sister in their Panorama Hills home in November -- netted McGinnis the honour, announced Tuesday by the association.

The annual Education News Writers and Photographers of Alberta Awards are given to two journalists and two photographers, at daily and weekly newspapers in the province, for their work on public education issues and achievements.

McGinnis, 30, said she is honoured to have won the EdNews Award for the picture that captured an emotional moment in the lives of Louie's friends.

"Photography is a passion of mine and one I get to indulge in at the Herald from time to time," she said.

"It's rare at a daily that I can do both (writing and photography) and I did both that day."

The photo accompanied a story that McGinnis wrote about the Calgary West Soccer Club's effort to honour Louie and help its other members cope with their grief.

Edmonton Journal education reporter Sarah O'Donnell was given the award for reporting at a daily newspaper.

© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald

idea of intepreting visual image

Old paint on canvas, as it ages, sometimes becomes transparent. When that happens it is possible, in some pictures, to see the original lines: a tree will show through a woman’s dress, a child makes way for a dog, a large boat is no longer on an open sea. That is called pentimento because the painter “repented”, changed his mind. Perhaps it would be as well to say that the old conception, replaced by a later choice, is a way of seeing and then seeing again….. The paint has aged now and I want to see what was there for me once, and what is there for me now.

-Lillian Hellman

Pentimento: A Book of Portraits

Visual Methods Chapter - by Pink

VISUAL METHODS Chapter by Sarah Pink

- visual anthropology and visual sociology – subdiscipline in the development of visual methods.

In anthropology – Bateson and Mead

In sociology – Howard Becker – his was quote found in visual research methods text

Pinks work – field of the visual in ethnography – is critical of purely observational approaches

Ways of introducing photography and video in qualitative research include -

• The analysis of existing photos or video
• Using photos as prompts for discussion “photo elicitation”
• Asking informants to produce photographs or video along certain themes and questions to discuss and analyse later
• The researcher producing photos and video in collaboration with informants during participant observation or interviewing

Visual research is a creative process requiring researchers to respond creatively to their own research situation with well-informed innovations and adaptations to existing methods. P. 363

PLANNING VISUAL RESEARCH

A) Deciding which visual media and method to use –

• Appropriateness of using different media in specific cultural and persona contexts
• Privacy issues
• Institutional rules and regulations
• Possiblity of carrying out a pilot study to determine appropriateness beforehand

B) Innovative visual research can be costly

- cameras, batteries film and tapes, computing equipment, editing facilities for video making, developing, printing, digitalizing and reproductions costs, technical support or training that might be needed

- range of visual technology now available is immense,

- visual technologies constantly changing and evolving

- kind of camera may be dictated by research context eg small DV camera more appropriate in a home than big professional camera

C) Thinking about permissions and consent

-depends on context

- ethical issues and agreements

We often mix the visual with other methods – video with interview or participant observation – need to see as integrated into the process not visual as add-on

DOING VISUAL RESEARCH

A) Getting the informants - getting the informants is a challenge – Pink recommends developing a collaborative relationship with informants whereby they become involved in decision-making about the way the interview materials are used

B) Being a reflexive visual researcher – being aware of how our own experiences, knowledge and stand-points inform our interpretation with and interpretation of our informants

C) Understanding the meaning of the camera in the research context –

D) Introducing the camera – usually develop contact first and let them hold and use the technology being used

E) Working with informants – because anthropologists and sociologists have to negotiate with their informants to produce knowledge anyway, most research is collaborative

UNDERSTANDING AND ANALYSING VISUAL RESEARCH

- difficult to separate research and analysis in visual research

- might include reflexive analysis of process and relationships

QUOTES

“Photographs and videos do not tell us the whole story about either or own or our informants experiences; instead, like our written notes, they are subjective representations of reality.”

“The meanings of visual images are ambiguous and we cannot assume that a photograph or video recording produced during our research will always have the same meaning. It will be given different meaning according to the subjectivity of the person viewing and interpreting it.” Pg 371

“… doing ethnography is establishing rapport, selecting informants, transcribing texts, taking genealogies, mapping fields, keeping a diary, and so on. But it is not these things, techniques and received procedures, that define the enterprise. What defines it is the kind of intellectual effort it is: an elaborate venture in, to borrow a notion from Gilbert Ryle, ‘thick description’.” (Clifford Geertz, The Interpretation of Cultures, p.6

“Ethnography is an ambiguous term, representing both a process and a product. As a product an ethnography is usually a book.” (Michael H. Agar, The Professional Stranger p. 1

notes on the internet as research context

Chapter 21
The Internet as research context
by Annette N. Markham
NOTES

The chapter challenges the idea of perception as it is merged with the cyber world or virtual world.

-the researcher approached her study as an ethnographer and went to ‘live’ with her subjects in the online world

-had to interpret text from the interviews done…

-viewed the internet as “…a multiplicity of cultural phenomena not limited to either a monolithic entity or a universal set of experiences” p. 330 as well as, “I view the Internet as an umbrella term for those social spaces constituted and mediated through computer-mediated interactions. As such, the Internet can be seen as a place or a research context.” P. 330

-author comments on how using the internet in research causes the researcher to adjust their perspective,

“In my own experience, the absence of the body does not make the interaction less real, or the ‘knowing of other’ impossible, but it forces an adjustment of perspective; I must be keenly aware of my preconceptions” p. 331

-while conducting research on the net, the researcher can observe behaviour in a less obtrusive way (p. 332)…
“the researcher can lurk and not be noticed. Participant observation is also easier, in that joining groups is not difficult” p. 332
-the author notes that ethical considerations must be balanced in this type of research

Social spaces on the Internet… “These spaces of interaction can draw on or transcend traditional ways of being with others, reify traditional or create new stereotypes, democratize or marginalize. These spaces, like the humans constituting and occupying them, are like any social space we see and study in physical environments; I argue that the primary distinctiveness of the Internet lies in the capacity for anonymity and the unique way this technology reconfigures time and space” p. 333



Internet as a way of being (p. 333)
-author states, “there are those users who embodied connection to the technology is powerfully evident, such as those who broadcast daily activities as public display via webcams…we can create and destroy our various identities and selves at will in cyberspace; our identities can be perceived as having continuous malleability and transformative potential.” P. 333

About Online Interviewing-when the visual element is removed from communication and the individual has to rely on text only, language and perception are joined and this takes a great deal of patience, listening and constant interpretation. P. 334

Interpretation-

The author talks about how she does not know her subjects outside of their ‘online’ personas…however, does this make the person any less real? As well, can the researcher ever ignore his/her judgments about subjects based on how the subject presents him/herself?

“The interpretive lens is not separable from the researcher’s frame of reference and history, but researchers often deemphasize or totally ignore this limitation under the protective guise of if scientific tradition” p. 340

“The methodological dilemma is to be sensitive to the context, to figure out what the most suitable interpretive path is, and to remain epistemologically consistent. Of course, in my own experience, this is easier said than done…” p. 340

“Embodiment dysfunction: When we rely on our embodied sensibilities of knowing, we are not necessarily getting a better or more ‘accurate’ picture of the subjects of our studies; we may be simply reflecting our own comfort zones of research.” P. 341

“In the end, however, our goal as qualitative researchers remains; we strive to understand other in context, analyze some of what it means, and, when we think we know something, present this knowledge to colleagues.” P. 343

“…Internet contexts prompt us to reconsider the foundations of our methods and compel us to assess the extent to which our methods are measuring what we think they are, or getting at what we have always assumed they did.” P. 343

more images

Historical Images

Berlin wall comes down
Princess Diana
Jumping over Berlin wire
Elvis Presley
The Challenger
Mona Lisa
Lee Harvey Oswald
Bobby Orr
Twin Towers
Hurricane Katrina
Seal Hunt
John Lennon an Yoko Ono
Obama
Hitler
Japanese Surrender
Time Square
Pearl Harbour
Sinking of the Titanic
OJ Simpson

Interesting Quote

"In the end I am convinced that theorizing about photography is similar to theorizing about sex - one can indeed come up with some creative and useful insights, but a bit of practice will tell you much of what you need to know."

by Stanczak

from Visual Research Methods