Empirical Art: Filmmaking for fieldwork in practice is an insightful exploration of what the craft of filmmaking brings to social science research. Providing creative avenues on how to narrate encounters, relationships, and experiences during fieldwork, this comprehensive volume offers a rich tapestry of theoretical explorations and explorative methodologies. Skilfully connecting the worlds of ethnography, art and cinema, the contributors in this book act as a compass for filmmakers and researchers venturing to use a camera and microphone to relate and narrate their research collaborations and fieldsites.
Drawing from the authors' extensive experience in disciplines like social anthropology, environmental humanities, and political science, Empirical Art breaks down the intricate process of crafting ethnographic films that departs from the researcher's subjectivity. Covering aspects of filmmaking from conceptualisation to production and distribution, readers are equipped with a treasure trove of collaborative techniques, innovative approaches, and ethical considerations necessary to generate and examine storytelling practices in contemporary fields of study.
The authors discuss the significance of the multiple roles that technologies of filmmaking play in reflecting on cultural practices, social dynamics, and (beyond) human storytelling and their transformative potentials. Whether a seasoned filmmaker, an aspiring ethnographer, or an academic seeking new dimensions for their research, Empirical Art serves as a guide to integrating visual storytelling, cinema craft and empirical research.
Edited by:
Andy Lawrence,
Martha-Cecilia Dietrich
Imprint: Manchester University Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 234mm,
Width: 156mm,
Spine: 18mm
Weight: 601g
ISBN: 9781526170781
ISBN 10: 1526170787
Series: Anthropology, Creative Practice and Ethnography
Pages: 296
Publication Date: 02 September 2025
Audience:
General/trade
,
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
ELT Advanced
,
Primary
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Introduction: Crafting connections by Martha-Cecilia Dietrich and Andy Lawrence Part I:Narrating experience 1.Bearing: Documenting the self in early motherhood. Rosie Reed Hillman 2 The screen walk method: Exploring the social lifeworlds of digital environments. Steffen Köhn · 3 Filming pasts, presents and futures: Bringing the archive to life and seeing the archive in life. Stephen A. Linstead 4 The aesthetics of access: Filmmaking in a Balinese ‘deaf village’. Erin Moriarty Part II: The camera as a catalyst 5 The magic of a floating stone: Ciné-play in poetic imaginaries of old age. Jón Bjarki Magnússon 6 The potentiality of form: Essayistic modes in making an ethnographic documentary. Anja Dreschke and Michaela Schäuble 7 Beyond the recording button: The role of the camera in post-war memory research. Martha-Cecilia Dietrich Part III: At the edge of the frame 8 My lustful eye: Filmmaking, ‘empirical excess’ and the limits of being in control of one’s art. Mattijs van de Port 9 Expanding the limits: Observational and VR filmmaking with women and children in prison. Rossella Schillaci 10 The productivity in failure: Filmmaking as transformative practice. Andy Lawrence Part IV: Taking position 11 Contesting invisibility: Stories of Indian migrant women in Japan. Megha Wadhwa 12 An international love affair at the Chinese-Russian border: A filmic event ethnography. Elena Barabantseva 13 Losing face: Complicating human subjectivity through multispecies character development. Annika Capelàn 14 The political ‘opponent’ in my lens. Christine Moderbacher Epilogue: From experience to empirical art. David MacDougall Index -- .
Andy Lawrence is a filmmaker and Senior Lecturer in Visual Anthropology at the University of Manchester. He is the founding director of Filmmaking for Fieldwork. Martha-Cecilia Dietrich is a filmmaker and Assistant Professor in Anthropology at the University of Amsterdam. She is a co-director of Filmmaking for Fieldwork.
