Paper short abstract

In Costa Rica’s Osa Peninsula, biodiversity conservation is polarizing; trying to situate it ethnographically and visually relies on suspending the urge to reach conclusions but instead deal with the polarized tension within conservationism as the dynamic and unfinished ethnographic subject itself.

Paper long abstract

In Costa Rica’s Osa Peninsula, the practice of conservation is a polarizing topic, and trying to situate it ethnographically and represent it visually relies on mixed participatory methods, understanding local politics and history, as well as willingness to suspend the urge to reach a conclusion but instead deal with the polarized tension within conservationism as the dynamic and unfinished ethnographic subject itself.

I’d like to approach this presentation by discussing (1) the goals in mind while making the ethnographic documentary Lifting the Green Screen, (2) the methods we engaged while attempting to reach those goals, (3) challenges that were ever-present, and (4) how working visually nuanced that anthropological engagement. 80% of the Osa’s geographic space is under some sort of land controls between the national park, forest reserve, and private preserves, which make the Osa a uniquely well-situated place for ecotourism and tropical ecological science. Many residents, however, have other - sometimes competing - interests that demand their time and energy, which often leads to disputes, conflict, and controversy. Visual ethnographic narrative is able to expose this tension by giving participants, local residents of various generations and backgrounds in addition to other interested parties, the space to voice their concerns and the time for debate and reflection. Visual narrative and ethnographic storytelling can also illuminate an affect of everyday life – an aesthetic embodiment – that strikes the viewer in a way that, in best cases, transports them to that field site.