|
Soc. Geogr., 2, 1-10, 2007
www.soc-geogr.net/2/1/2007/ doi:10.5194/sg-2-1-2007 © Author(s) 2007. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License. |
04 Jan 2007
Universität Bremen, Institut für Geographie, Bibliothekstraße 1, 28359 Bremen, Germany
Abstract. The article picks up on a gap in the methodology of human geographic empirical research. Although geography is a visual science, an in-depth analysis of its self-produced images, maps and charts has not yet been made from the point of view of image theory. The mental map research carried out in the 1970s can be seen as the last examination of this subject. Against this background, the paper initially develops an image theoretical approach based on Edmund Husserl's Phenomenology in order to elaborate on these theoretical considerations and introduce into specialist discussions the method of reflexive photography that comes from visual sociology as an important method of investigation, one that has so far been disregarded in geographical methodology. Reflexive photography marks a change of perspective. The test person photographs autonomously without being influenced by the scientific observer and appears in the subsequent interview as an expert on his own photographs. The objectivisation of the subjective perspective of photography that has been achieved technically and theoretically acts as a visual stimulus in the interview situation and permits profound reflexive thought in the test person. Reflexive photography therefore provokes more profound responses than in a pure interview situation. At the end of the paper, possible fields of application for the method in human geography are considered.
„Dadurch, daß die fotografische Industrie die Zuflucht aller gescheiterten Maler wurde, der Unbegabten und der Faulen, hatte diese allgemeine Überfütterung nicht nur Verblendung und Verdummung zur Folge, sondern wirkte auch wie eine Rache. Daß eine so dummdreiste Verschwörung, die wie stets die Böswilligen und die Narren vereint, vollen Erfolg haben könnte, glaube ich nicht oder besser: Ich will es nicht glauben.“
Charles Baudelaire, 1859
Citation: Dirksmeier, P.: Der husserlsche Bildbegriff als theoretische Grundlage der reflexiven Fotografie: Ein Beitrag zur visuellen Methodologie in der Humangeografie, Soc. Geogr., 2, 1-10, doi:10.5194/sg-2-1-2007, 2007.