Sending a Powerful Message to Your Audience: Filmmaker Dipesh Kharel Speaks on Visual Anthropology in 5th SDRC Webinar
Visual anthropology is the study of people and society commonly using ethnographic film and photography. In the time of COVID-19, what happens when one no longer has the option to engage in face-to-face interaction to collect audio-visual data?
Suggestions and solutions to this dilemma were extended by Dr. Dipesh Kharel, a Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Postdoctoral Fellow at Sophia University and Visiting Researcher at the University of Tokyo, in a two-part webinar hosted by SDRC as part of its 41st Anniversary Webinar Series on September 29 and 30 via Zoom and Facebook Live. He shared his understanding and experience in his area of specialization, in which the camera is employed as a research tool to study the culture and everyday life of a particular society, in a presentation entitled “Doing Visual Ethnography in a Pandemic.” He began by defining the ethnographer— who conducts research based on a theoretical problem, gathers and analyzes data, writes and rewrites, and produces a written report—and differentiating him from the filmmaker—who begins with an idea and a script, shoots footage, edits and re-edits, and produces a film. The ethnographic filmmaker, he then explained, is one who produces films that reflect an understanding of human behavior, activity, relationships, and life realities.
He further distinguished ethnographic film from television documentaries. The latter are produced from the director’s perspective and, because time is limited, must seek and tell a story with immediacy. In ethnographic film, meanwhile, it is the subject who provides the point of view; fieldwork or production is long-term, to allow for familiarity with the community; and time is allotted to enable a story to emerge. To illustrate these qualities, Dr. Kharel shared excerpts from three of his notable films: “A Life with Slate,” the result of his masteral study, which depicts the life of slate miners (majority of whom are from the indigenous Thami group) in the remote Alampu village in Nepal, and their interaction with the environment; “Playing with Nan,” which relays the story of the young Nepali Ram, who leaves his rural village and uses his bread making skills to find work in Hokkaido, with the hope of delivering his family from poverty; and “A Kali Temple Inside Out,” shot among devotees to the Hindu goddess in Kanpur, India, which shows the blurred lines between religions when it comes to seeking divine assistance.
A day before his presentation, his most recent ethnographic film “Japani: Children of the Migrant Village”—produced in collaboration with NHK— was screened over Zoom as the first part of the webinar. Following the life of Bipisha, a nine-year-old Japani (meaning “made in Japan”) raised by her grandparents in the Nepalese village of Galkot, the film documents her struggle when her migrant parents ask her to join them in Tokyo. Prosperity is seen as a product of migrant parents’ labors with an increase in the number of private schools established in the village. Yet, when the Japani are asked if they remember their mothers, it becomes apparent that “The children left behind by their parents suffer wounds not easily healed.”
With regard to the challenge of conducting visual ethnography in a pandemic, Dr. Kharel identified two options. One was to delay the project, which he acknowledged was not feasible because researchers need to be involved, to act and react to global problems, and to share their information with the wider community. Thus, he presented the more workable option of re-inventing one’s approach to the research. In visual ethnography one has a number of choices, which include making everyday life recordings on Zoom, using online discussion platforms, employing digital storytelling methods, and collecting images from archives, YouTube or Vimeo. He spoke of his experience with young migrants in Japan, all of whom owned iPhones, so they easily recorded their everyday lives, work, and study while under lockdown, thus enabling him to accumulate a large amount of data.
Over a hundred participants viewed the presentation, and they contributed to the discussion by asking:
- How can the researcher preserve the privacy of informants in ethnographic research? – Dr. Kharel reminded the group that informants “are also your collaborators.” It is important to explain the project to them in detail, show them drafts of the film, ask them for feedback, and always be honest with them.
- What are the costs of doing visual ethnography, and is it possible to get funding? – Technological innovations have brought cheaper cameras and software for editing into the market, so that ethnographic films are being produced more often. For pioneering ethnographic filmmakers, Dr. Kharel noted, expenses were huge. The cost of equipment since their time has diminished drastically. If a project is interesting enough to share with a global audience, one can approach universities, foundations, or international agencies, or collaborate with broadcast companies, for funding.
- How do you ensure the authenticity of your subject’s behavior and response, given that the camera is always present? – This will depend on trust. Unlike research that employs impersonal tools such as surveys, ethnographic study involves immersion in a community, which could involve a stay of one or two years. “It’s different from visiting for an hour,” Dr. Kharel explained, “when they might lie to you. If you stay for a month, and talk with many people in that society, you see many angles. They can’t lie.”
- How do you maintain objectivity in producing your study? – Dr. Kharel agreed that during data collection—the main part of the research process—there may be bias while immersed in the community. However, upon returning to the University, the researcher creates distance from the informant, and needs to be disciplined in carrying out the work. While this is not easy, it is essential in order to strike a balance.
When asked about the significance of ethnographic film in relation to social studies, Dr. Kharel pointed out that in almost any area of research, photographs and videos are used in presentations, particularly in the classroom. He emphasized that images can make a difference, and can convey a powerful message to the audience (a sentiment shared among those who viewed “Japani: Children of the Migrant Village”). He encouraged beginning visual ethnographers to “try to see the possibilities” of using tools like film, photography, paintings and drawings. This could help them to conduct research that is truly “in-depth” and possibly consequential.
