Cultural anthropologist John Kleinen and three of his students (Michel van der Kolk, Ruben Sibon and Ella Oosterwijk) have received grants to study the use of images as scientific source (project named Camera Lucida). The results of the study will be translated in video tutorials for anthropologists, sociologists, political scientists and social geographers.

Many scientists have more faith in the written word and do not trust the use of images as scientific source. John Kleinen and his team however claim that photographs or movies can trigger issues that cannot be pronounced in words:  “Images tell their own story, maybe not in full detail, but neither will words”. Kleinen argues that by using the right methods en technics images can be read like a written text.

Learning to `read’ images as representation of ethnographic knowledge, is the main motive of the project Camera Lucida. John Kleinen and his team will create video tutorials that explain to scientists how to read and interpret images as a potential for the social science. These images can concern (historical) still pictures, moving pictures and documentaries and fiction. Also fiction, like a Bollywood movie, gives information about a country and population. The first videos will become available this year.

John Kleinen aims to archive all video tutorials on an online portal that will also provide a discussion podium for scientists and that will give access to movies that have been purchased in the past by the University in affiliated events.

The grants have been  provided by the digital teaching support team and the central videoboard of the UvA.