Visual Anthropology and the Work of David Macdougall with a Prolific

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Visual Anthropology and the work of David MacDougall With a prolific range of ethnographic films and theoretical writing, David MacDougall is one of the most influential voices in the field of Visual Anthropology. From reflections on mediation and the conventions of photography and representation; to foundational meditations on the observational mode of filming considered central to the ethnographic film; to an intensive engagement with the more participatory and interactive approach favoured by French filmmaker-anthropologist Jean Rouch; to his recent filmmaking project of “shared anthropology” with Indian children, MacDougall’s oeuvre encompasses a sustained engagement with the visual and sensory modes of perception crucial to the ethnological and social sciences. This two day workshop (9th-10th of May) will focus on some selected aspects of this wide-ranging body of work. On the first day (9th May), we will host three panel discussions: 1. On Photography and Representation Screening: Photo Wallahs (1991) Discussants: Britta Ohm and Radhika Gupta 2. New Forms of Ethnographic film: Contemporary Perspectives Screening: Excerpts from various films Discussants: Franziska Weidle and Michael Westrich 3. Participatory Modes of Documentary Filmmaking and Shared Anthropology: The Childhood and Modernity Project and Delhi at Eleven Screening: Selected films from the Delhi at Eleven Project Discussants: Patrick Eisenlohr and Saikat Maitra The second day (10th May) will comprise an intensive student workshop with David MacDougall, with a focus on his methodologies of research prior to filming and on his use of camera, sound and editing in ethnographic film. We will begin the student workshop with a screening of MacDougall’s film, With Morning Hearts (2001) and end with a screening of SchoolScapes (2007) at the Lumiere Cinema. .

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