ABSTRACT
There are two ways in which primarily visual materials are employed in ethnographic research (cf. Morphy and Banks 1997). In the first of these, visual records, such as still photographs, film and video, are produced by or at the request of the ethnographer. In this approach, the process of production of these visual materials is itself a central research activity. The product of this research may also be primarily visual, taking the form of an ethnographic film for instance; but such visually focused research may equally lead to a more traditional final product, such as a written ethnography, drawn from and perhaps including some of the visual database. In this latter case, the relationship of visual materials to final product somewhat resembles that of interview transcripts to the eventual ethnography in a primarily interview-based study.
