Paper short abstract:

In this paper I will present he complex dynamics, relationships and entanglements related to the production, representation, circulation and appropriation of wedding photographs in Dakar (Senegal) and relate it to my own practice of knowledge generation.

Paper long abstract:

Photographs and especially wedding photography has been a revelatory practice in the course of my fieldwork in Dakar (Senegal). My own practice of taking images of others and learning to pose in front of the camera introduced me to a culturally specific form of visuality and helped me to gain an insight into the aesthetic, sensorial and experiential dimensions of femininity, selfhood and the making of relationships.

Weddings are one of the most important life-cycle events in a young woman's life and in Dakar photography became part of the conspicuous display of wealth and a space to perform and situate oneself in relation to others. In this paper I will present the complex dynamics, relationships and entanglements related to the production, representation, circulation and appropriation of wedding photographs in Dakar and relate it to my own practice of knowledge generation. Through thoroughly unfolding the various aspects related to wedding photography I try to bring out the manifold ways images contribute to our understanding of the social spaces and worlds we encounter and how they mediate anthropological knowledge on very different levels.