Let's catch up! Also, some pointers on LO-FI visual anthropology.

[A. Ashkuff]

PERSONAL STUFF:

Alright! Heya, OAC! Missed all youz. Been busy. So here I am, recently graduated from anthro school. I had to turn down a job offer, to help a loved one with surgery, and thus I've had some time to just spin my wheels. Among other pursuits, I'm looking into a masters in marketing, and starting a couple small businesses of my own. How've all you been? Seriously. Not an empty question, I'd like to hear about your exploits.

 

ANTHRO STUFF:

I've been experimenting with visual anthropology lately. I came across this neat esthetic called "LO-FI," which might be useful to the under-equipped visual anthropologists. I threw together a short article and example, available for free here: http://ashkuff.com/akaBlog/?p=5448.

 

My questions to all of you are these: 

(1) Does anybody know anything about LO-FI? I'd like some pointers.

(2) If you don't know about LO-FI, I'd still like opinions on purposely junky photography.

(3) What use is esthetic in visual anthropology?

(4) If esthetic isn't of any use, can it really be avoided?

 

--- Ashkuff | http://www.ashkuff.com | How to venture out of “armchair” scholarship, and into action? One anthropologist tackles occultism, violence, and more! He gets spooked and roughed up a lot.

[John McCreery]

Check out the "Hipstamatic, Authentic, and (maybe) True" thread on Savage Minds. I was intrigued enough to buy the Hipstamatic App and, after playing with it, can see some possible reasons for its appeal. It is fun to think once again about the effects of different films and lenses—the app lets you choose from a variety of simulations. There is also something a bit deeper going on. Not quite sure just yet, but it occurs to me that looking at "old" photographs is a way of reassuring oneself that stuff we once took for granted was real, that it is, after all, possible to have roots in a world where, as Grant McCracken puts it, "meaning flows."