Visual Methodologies (VM - E-Journal)
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TRANSform Beijing 2008 - 2018
Get PDFThis photo essay offers a glimpse of the process of urban ‘regeneration’, which took place in one small corner of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Park site
“Lights, Camera and Environmental Justice”. The audiovisual qualitative methodological approach to the analysis of the narratives of collective environmental action (Argentina. 2007-2010)
No full textThe emergence of environmental films and environmental narratives is part of a production process of images and sounds related to the proliferation of environmental conflicts in Latin America and in the whole world. This process is relatively new in Argentina and it manifest, among other things, in the production of documentary films that evoke environmental activism. This article analyzes the social construction of environmental issue from the perspective of environmental justice in the case of documentary films produced by two public universities (the National University of Cordoba and the University of Buenos Aires) and by one school of the television production (TEA Image).From audiovisual qualitative methodological approach, the purpose of this article is to perform an analysis of the environmental audiovisual productions in the specific academic scope of social sciences, productions which often are produced in collaboration with social organizations. Particularly the aim is to reflect on the “scenification” of three specific environmental conflicts represented in the documentary films under analysis.The discursive modality documentaries and the environmental narratives used in each of the documentaries, say a lot about the strategies chosen by those actors involved in environmental justice claims.
Introduction: Exploring new perspectives in the study of social and environmental change
Get PDFThe scientific and technological achievements of the past century and the increasing pervasiveness of images have not only influenced deeply the relationship between humankind and nature, but have also introduced new kinds of awareness of human's responsibilities on vulnerabilities never experienced before, which have serious - if not irreversible - cascades of consequences on the stability, livability and reproduction of social and natural contexts. As a matter of fact, in several cases, the threats produced by the current system have already neared the end of their latency (Beck, 1992): we are increasingly more affected by their effects and also visually more exposed to them. This happens not just because disasters, either man-made or natural, occur more frequently, and the multiplicity of their damages are wider, but also because individuals and communities can increasingly experience them, not just directly but also indirectly, and in several ways. Media shrink time and space distances and augment the capacity of our senses to acknowledge them and this also encourages the emergence of new social processes. Nonetheless, in the early stages of studies on these issues, in front of the complexity of the phenomena that were dramatically unfolding, the theories and methods of social sciences (as well as of others) have proven to be weak and running behind
Visualizing empathy, memory, and identity: a study comparing visual and participatory methods that challenge dominant scopic regimes
Get PDFFrom Boston to Los Angeles, scholars and practitioners are working to improve participatory design and planning through new forms of digital media. Visualization technologies have also become much more prominent in the quotidian operations of urban governance, broadening the scope and methods for public engagement in urban planning projects. Different visual methods powerfully shape people’s perceptions and understandings of urban issues, and broader institutional arrangements further shape the communication potential of visual information. However, little is known about how, specifically, visual information works to foster dialogue and debate in urban design and planning projects. This paper takes an institutional lens to analyze four civic engagement and participatory planning cases in U.S. cities. Digital media considered here include immersive 3D models, social network media, participatory mapping, smartphone, and cheap cellphone-based engagement. Cities include Boston, Acton (MA), Raleigh, and Los Angeles. It concludes that visualization technologies do offer new opportunities for participatory design and planning, while institutional arrangements influence the type of method, the way it is implemented, and its communication impact. Civic organizations, academic institutions, and private funding agencies are important players in the pursuit of social justice in the city. Longstanding relationships between civic organizations and research organizations are more likely to produce visualizations that articulate problems, and responses to problems, articulated by civic organizations
Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games: A Visual Presentation of Security in the Pre-event Phase
Get PDFFor the overall success of any mega event it is important that security measures are embedded through all stages, from the initial planning and design onto the aftermath and legacy. Yet, discussions around the security measures for the Olympics, FIFA World Cup or Commonwealth Games have tended to focus on the periods immediately before, during and after the main event, not many months or years in advance of it.This paper uses photographs and semi-structured interview data with security planners and secondary focus group data with local residents in order to identify and discuss the events linked securitisation and regeneration of the east end of Glasgow in preparation for the 2014 Commonwealth Games.Using Images of particular elements of security which were in place long before the arrival of the games, the interconnected nature of security and urban regeneration in the pre-event phase is identified, where aspects of security in anticipation for the games and its aftermath, are integrated and normalised into the everyday environment.
Representing connections: how visualizations shape understandings of networks
Get PDFThis article raises questions about a type of image that is becoming increasingly ubiquitous: network visualizations. Such visualizations – particularly of social networks – are used to demonstrate an interconnectedness that seems to have taken on an almost ideological tone. Images of networks that seem dense, well-connected and mixed are presented in a positive light, while images of networks that seem to show segregation, low levels of connectedness or isolation are presented as evidence that something needs to change. They are seductive in their visual appeal, their apparent readability, the fixity they confer on both the networks they represent and the sense that they are conveying facts. However, this paper uses a case study to argue that they are far from neutral, and that they need to be approached with a high level of criticality
Editorial
Get PDFThe Fourth International Conference on Visual Methodswas hosted by the University of Brighton in September2015. It brought together many imaginative andhugely productive collaborations between academics,practitioners and community groups from various citiesand regions of the UK, Europe and beyond. Like mostconferences, our programme consisted of presentationsand keynote speeches, but we also included screenings,exhibitions and workshops. Much of this took place inthe University but we extended our reach by openingthe doors of the University to the local community andholding screenings and exhibitions in public spacesacross the city. This special edition of Visual Methodologiesstrives to capture the richness and diversity of theprogramme; it offers some detailed first hand accountsof projects and papers presented at the conference, aswell as exploring the wider role of visual methods incontemporary research practice. Our cover features oneof Ray Gibson’s iconic pebble faces taken on BrightonBeach and used as part of the Great Pebble Dash, one ofthe projects which took conference delegates out of theUniversity and into the city
Adventures in Visual Analysis
Get PDFThis paper tells the story of an arts-informed, visual study−the iSquare Research Program−and the four visual analysis techniques that have been used across its history: compositional interpretation, thematic analysis, pictorial metaphor analysis, and content analysis. When each analytical strategy was applied, in turn, to the visual data set of more than 2,000 original drawings, different insights about the target subject of ‘information’ came into view. To begin, the iSquare Research Program is introduced and placed in the disciplinary context of information science. One at a time, the research questions that emerged in the project and their complementary analytical strategies are outlined, with attention to matters of implementation, interpretation, and results. By the conclusion, readers will be able to distinguish and compare the four visual analysis techniques and can thereafter synchronize one or more to their own research projects and questions. Overall, what follows is an adventure story about the selective focusing power of analytic lenses and their ability to generate myriad discoveries within a singular visual data set
Back Through the Looking Glass: A Review of the Fourth International Visual Methods Conference
Get PDFThe title ‘Back through the looking glass’ reflects my ongoing engagement with the evolving and dynamic biannual International Visual Research Methods Conference. What I really like about the IVM is the way it encourages innovation and change rather than becoming a staid repetition that rolls out a similar format and style that engenders inertia. To some extent this is encouraged by the newness of the conference team every two years; different people, different places and new ideas and ways of thinking mean that each conference is fresh and exciting, but also resonant of the original aims of IVM, to enable a space for sharing, learning, exploring and of course challenging visual methodologies, performances and practices
Visual Methods and Beyond: Exploring the Logics and Influence of Competing Domains of Visual Practice
Get PDFThis provocation arises from ongoing research exploring why governments have not relied more heavily on great advances in a range of digital tools and visualization techniques which can show the complexity of complex policy and administrative challenges, for the purposes of analysis and advising, engaging the public when debating issues and solutions, and for accountability. Previous research identified three distinct, but overlapping, domains of visual practice, reviewed the respective literature, attended conferences, and met practitioners, and considered how the tools and the resulting visual representations might intersect with the policy-making process. This provocation, based on participation in the 4th Annual International Conference on Visual Methods in Brighton in September 2015, incorporates the realm of Visual Methods as a fourth domain of visual practice. It also brings to the field of Visual Methods questions and observations about the relationship between similarities among the different domains of visual practice, the logic and values behind visual practice, and explores the macro context of visual practice contributions and policy-making