ABSTRACT
“Imaging Anthropology” presents imaging techniques and strategies for unlocking and transforming cultural information into tangible ethnographic results. It proposes a viable means for the advancement of visual ethnography in interpreting the multi-dimensional aspects of culture within a temporal/spatial framework. The anchoring of a visual/verbal dialogue in a visual-spatial/kinesthetic understanding is seen to be critical in mediating the various dimensions of cultural information through the stages of fieldwork to final presentation. By bringing a disciplined somatosensory awareness to the process of ethnographic accountability, a powerful tool can be fashioned to image anthropology. The relevancy of this approach is illustrated by a visual ethnographic project which examines the ritual aesthetics of Japanese traditional art forms, focusing on the practice of tea, and which culminated in the film, THE PATH.
