Oldal 78 [78]
76
Zbigniew Libera, Magdalena Sztandara
bolic sense—to get informants to talk and make some effort to "dig deeper" into
their memory (Hastrup 1995). Obviously, the relation between the ethnographer
and the informant is always a relationship of power. However, in some cases it turns
out to be more about “demanding the explanations”.’
One can agree that the form of researchers’ self-depiction is interesting and in¬
dicates the category of authority, which James Clifford called ethnographic author¬
ity. Such an authority strongly dominates in the situation of conducting interviews.
“Fraternization” seems to be an element of ethnographic staging and play and re¬
lated to ethnographic authority. The disposition of power in the photos highlights
the strong contrast between villagers and researchers. The casual demeanour, and
sometimes even nonchalance, of the researchers who are sitting comfortably with
crossed legs, strongly contrasts with the rigid poses of informants. It is doubtful
that we are dealing with moments of proximity and intimacy but with an obvious
otherness. Such otherness is expressed also in the ethnographers’ dress code. On the
one hand, their appearance as “explorers” was intentional and according to Bur¬
chard and Dziegiel raises trust in “ordinary people” and creates closeness and makes
the contact easier. On the other hand, in particular situations the “urban” costume
rather deepens the sense of distance, as is mentioned by Dziegiel (1996: 231) in
his honest statement about “visiting the village by the ‘strange team’ from the city”.
Looking at these ethnographers’ self-depictions, it is rather difficult to resist the
impression that we are dealing with just another research task of merely collecting
and documenting the “authenticity” of culture. The proximity and intimacy in the
photographs is only constructed, since the material objects seem more important
than the social reality itself.
Conclusion
Ethnographers photographing themselves in the field are involved in a visual game
resulting in a frozen and othered image. These photographs reveal the moment of
being photographed in which the object automatically adopts the pose and creates
an artificial image of him- or herself. Posing may be regarded as an act of creating
the image expected by the gaze of society. In a way these are theatrical situations,
which provoke a reflection about a staged encounter with others; thereby the final
product can be seen as a model of testimony of being in the field.
Certainly, scenes captured in the photographs are highly mythicized and form
a unique ¢heatrum that is incoherent with the research themes. As in Rabinow’s
> The idea of “demanding the explanations” comes from a master’s thesis from the 1960s in which the
author states, “The foundation of my plan was to explore one village in Swietokrzyskie mountains, espe¬
cially to conduct quasi inventories of individual buildings, and to observe and demand the explanations”.
Unpublished manuscript, Institute of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology, Jagiellonian University in
Cracow; author: Maria Lechowska; title: Ceynniki wplywajaqce na ksztattowanie chatupy chtopskiej w Gérach
Swigtokrzyskich w ciggu biezgcego wieku (‘The Factors Affecting Peasant Huts in the Swietokrzyskie Moun¬
tains During the Current Century’).