Anthropologies of the Gaze: Contemporary Visual Perspectives

Abstract

This introduction presents the monographic issue Anthropologies of the Gaze: Contemporary Visual Perspectives, which explores the relationship between anthropology and visuality. From the positivist origins of photography as an instrument of objectification and classification to its revaluation as an interpretive and culturally situated device, the image has evolved from a mere illustrative complement to a fundamental epistemological tool within the social sciences. The issue calls for a specific theory and methodology for the anthropological study of images, recognising their active role in the production of knowledge. The articles gathered here—diverse in contexts, approaches, and formats—share a common perspective on the image as a space of experience, relation, and interpretation: from the reception of documentary photography to visual ethnography, autoethnography, and collaborative research. Altogether, this monograph highlights the vitality of visual anthropology in the Catalan academic context and invites us to reclaim the slowness and density of the gaze as a way to understand, inhabit, and transform our present.