Pink's book is the second one I've read on the topic of visual ethnography. All I can say is that I wish I had known of this methodology when I was doing cultural research in East Africa.

The basic idea of visual ethnography rises from our ability as humans to look at a picture and be filled with all kinds of thoughts, emotions, and ideas. The saying, "a picture is worth a thousand words" really is true.

In studying culture, a variety of people can look at the same photo and see a multi-faceted reality in the same picture. This is because we all have our own biases, and we interpret data using our own particular "lens". We develop this lens over time, through life experiences.

Pink addresses the idea of "reflexivity" when analyzing how a researcher's biases influence his/her own research. The researcher's own cultural perspective comes into play in the selection of photos, the interpretation of the photos, and the presentation of the photos. Truly, we all have a cultural bias--a starting point--that ultimately influences the way we perceive and communicate meaning. Because of this, doing good cultural study requires that we make every effort to neutralize our own biases. Not that this can ever be accomplished, but certainly the practice of visual ethnography allows for broader input into the research method and results--which is definitely a step in the right direction.

For anyone doing ethnography this book is certainly a must-read.