2010 Bologna
The 2010 International Visual Sociology Association Conference was held at the world’s oldest university, Università di Bologna, in Italy. The theme of the conference was the ‘Thinking, Doing and Publishing Visual Research: The State of the Field?’.
Università di Bologna, Italy 20-22 July 2010
The 2010 International Visual Sociology Association Conference was held at the world’s oldest university, Università di Bologna, in Italy. The theme of the conference was the ‘Thinking, Doing and Publishing Visual Research: The State of the Field?’.
More than thirty years have passed since the publication of Howard Becker´s milestone work Photography and Sociology. The book provided initial legitimation to a generation of researchers and sociologists that had already started to use images in their research, and it constituted a reference point to the many others who have followed Becker´s scholarly agenda. Since then Visual Sociology has moved forward, growing as a research practice and acquiring recognition as an established field in sociology. It has also significantly renegotiated its identity expanding its scope and interacting with other fields and disciplines including psychology, anthropology, cultural studies, media and communication studies, semiotics, art and art history. Visual sociology has moved into the 21st century having established its presence and scientific agenda in at least four areas.
Theory of the Image: the study of the role of visual communications in a postmodern society. Along with the investigation of the role of sight in the exploration and socialization to the world, different theoretical approaches have been taken in the study of the role and ever-changing nature of the image, and are currently providing the basis for the development of methodological and empirical approaches that explore images´ heuristic potential in research.
Methodology: An increasingly rich and complex methodological toolbox has been created that established empirical and commonly acknowledged scientific methods employing images both as data and research tools. Photo-elicitation, native image making, grounded visual research, re-photography and image content analysis are largely established methods used for an ever increasing spectrum of research themes and interests.
Fieldwork: A range of image based theories and methodological approaches have informed and have been used in research applications that study both classic socio-anthropological subjects as well as an increasing variety of new media based practices and behaviors. Images are collected, used, observed and explored to investigate the social practices in which they are produced and embedded.
Publication of results: Although probably the weakest area in Visual Sociology, and the one with the most promise, changes in audiovisual production and distribution have profoundly affected the discipline. Like all professional communities, Visual Sociology is attempting to re-accommodate our practices to the emerging digital and web-based production and distribution modes. Despite the broad interest in new media and multi-media dynamics, universities around the world tend to remain text-and-paper-based. Academia still struggles to adopt and adapt to the changing nature of communication.
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