Abstract
This book review examines the fourth edition of Sarah Pink’s canonical work, Doing Visual Ethnography, which pioneers a methodological paradigm shift towards collaborative visual ethnography. The book deconstructs the positivistic assumption that positions the camera merely as an objective recording instrument, offering instead a framework of reflexivity wherein participants are elevated as co-producers of knowledge within the complexities of the contemporary digital ecology. This review critically evaluates Pink’s methodological contributions by highlighting ethical negotiations and the risks of extractive objectification in fieldwork. Furthermore, the review contextualizes the relevance of Pink’s approach specifically for the discipline of Cultural Studies, positioning it as an essential epistemological instrument to unpack power relations, bodily performativity, and spatial dynamics that are frequently lost under the hegemony of textual transcripts. In conclusion, this review recommends Pink’s book as an emancipatory treatise that invites researchers to dismantle textual bias in favor of a reflexive, ethical, and multimodal research praxis.
Bahasa Abstract
Tinjauan buku ini membedah edisi keempat karya kanonik Sarah Pink, Doing Visual Ethnography, yang memelopori pergeseran paradigma metodologis menuju praksis etnografi visual secara kolaboratif. Buku ini mendekonstruksi asumsi positivistik yang memosisikan kamera sekadar instrumen perekam realitas objektif, dan menawarkan kerangka refleksivitas di mana partisipan diangkat sebagai rekan produksi pengetahuan (co-producer) di tengah kompleksitas ekologi digital kontemporer. Ulasan ini secara kritis menimbang tawaran metodologis Pink dengan menyoroti negosiasi etis dan risiko objektifikasi ekstraktif dalam riset lapangan. Lebih jauh, tinjauan ini mengontekstualisasikan relevansi pendekatan Pink secara spesifik bagi disiplin Kajian Budaya, terutama sebagai instrumen epistemologis yang esensial untuk membongkar relasi kuasa, performativitas tubuh, serta dinamika spasial yang kerap luput dalam hegemoni transkrip tekstual. Kesimpulannya, ulasan ini merekomendasikan buku Pink sebagai risalah emansipatoris yang mengajak para peneliti menanggalkan bias teks menuju praksis riset yang refleksif, etis, dan multimodal.
References
Banks, Marcus, dan David Zeitlyn. 2021. Visual Methods in Social Research. London: SAGE Publications. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781473921702.
MacDougall, David. 2005. The Corporeal Image: Film, Ethnography, and the Senses. Princeton: Princeton University Press. https://doi.org/10.5860/choice.43-4421.
Pink, Sarah. 2021. Doing Sensory Ethnography. Doing Sensory Ethnography. London: SAGE Publications Inc. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781473917057.
Rose, Gillian. 2016. Visual Methodologies An Introduction to Researching with Visual Materials. London: SAGE Publications.
Recommended Citation
Salim, Muhammad Nur. 2026. TIMBANGAN BUKU: DOING VISUAL ETHNOGRAPHY FOURTH EDITION (SARAH PINK 2021). Paradigma: Jurnal Kajian Budaya 16, no. 2 (August). 10.17510/paradigma.v16i2.2059.
