Paper Short Abstract:

This paper considers the role of analogue photography in anthropological research concerned with the aftermath of debilitating state-sponsored violence.

Paper Abstract:

Over Summer 2023, I conducted ethnographic research in Paris, France, with photographers who are using their cameras to document instances of state violence during public demonstrations. In the context of my dissertation project, which focuses on the impact of protest injuries caused by non-lethal police weapons on contemporary social movements in France, the purpose of this research was: (i) to explore how the technical choices made by photographer-activists when taking, developing, or editing their images inform how state violence is processed—by themselves and the public at large; and, (ii) to learn from research participants how to craft my own photo-ethnographic method, one that would be suited to represent situations of violence in the field.

Building on the ethnographic materials collected and the methodological training I received, this paper considers the role of analogue photography in anthropological research concerned with the aftermath of debilitating state-sponsored violence. Specifically, it argues that one of the technical components of analogue photography—the film negative—can provide an "analytical protocol" to grapple with various manifestations of harm that may have been witnessed in the field but that were not immediately recognize as such. To assist with this endeavor, I will present three ethnographic vignettes that address the experiences of individuals who were permanently maimed by law-enforcement while protesting and are since engaging in projects of repair to find healing.