Photography and ethnographic designs: collaborative practices and creative processes in anthropology.

Abstract

Contemporary anthropology requires innovative methodologies that address sensitive issues in an ethical and collaborative manner. This article analyzes the potential of combining photography and ethnographic drawing through the collaboration between the artist and anthropologist Karina Kuschnir and the anthropologist Hannah de Vasconcellos, during the latter’s research on Black women and the racial dynamics of care. We examine the process from the conception of self-portraits to the production of photographs, the development of drawings, and the return of these images to the women portrayed. This path was built through multiple ethnographic dialogues, within the relationship between researcher Hannah and her interlocutors, as well as with the illustrator Karina. The work is inspired by the collaboration of Afonso and Ramos (2004), who define drawings as devices for co-creation, mnemonic and affective activation, and for evoking both visible and invisible meanings of social relations and material culture, contributing to the documentation and creation of new meanings in the interlocutors’ self-perceptions.