Paper short abstract:

Filming children could show their growth, and when they look back at themselves in the film, they could build their self-understanding of their personal history. I will present my case study/film on Bangladeshi children and discuss the possibility of visual anthropology on childhood.

Paper long abstract:

When we film children who are remarkably growing day by day, it should be the provisional record of them. When it is shown as a film product, however, they could be no longer quite different from themselves. The advantage of this shift, children could objectify themselves through watching their record and build their self-understanding of their personal history.

I have been conducting anthropological fieldwork focusing on children's growth in Bangladeshi rural society and film-making on them every few years. My informants who were primary school students at that time are around 20 years old now, most of the girls have been married and many of the boys have migrated to work in Dhaka or overseas. When I show my video which I had recorded their childhood, they look back and discuss their past and show their landscape of childhood. Their image in my film plays the "mirror" for them.

In my presentation, I will discuss the possibility of visual anthropology on childhood with showing my case study/film. If we could consider their reflection on editing the final work, the work can include a perspective of children themselves.