Paper short abstract:

Recording video changes fieldwork interactions as well as the possibility for the informants to view rushes increases his interest;videos emphasizes indeed the quality of relationships and thus expresses the specific rhythm of field encounters.

Paper long abstract:

Anthropology can be seen as a social science that elaborates methods to think and act towards shifting points of views ( Abélès, 2008: 247) ; such a definition underlines the great possibilities of video for anthropology, especially as regards its capacity to embark the spectator in contrasted points of view. I focus in this paper on the relationships created and captured by videotaping while doing 2014 and 2015 fieldworks the African Copperbelt. If the concept of 'participatory observation' may be difficult to agree on as globalization blurs the lines between local and global, using video can develop a contextualized anthropology by showing the social environment within which is produced the research. Moreover, if linked to the concept of 'pleasure of speaking' (Bourdieu, 1993:1408), we can say that fieldwork interviews offer room to such self-affirmation, video is a device that can enhance such pleasure as it enables immediate replay of the interview. This technological improvement can encourage the informant to question the reason and act of research. Furthermore, the temporal properties of the medium can insist on the dimension of research as a process. Any video expresses a specific philosophy of time as rhythm is intrinsic to video (Viola, 1995). Research videos can show the everyday encounters and uncertainty of the field which challenges the chronicle value of time that western societies emphasize (Zarifian, 2001). Anthropology can be a collaborative process which transforms the scientist himself (Schumaker, 2001) and fieldwork videos can demonstrate this specific and temporal dynamic.