One of the most common questions I get even from fellow sociologists is, “What is visual sociology?”. This page will aim to provide an overview of visual sociology, why sociologists study the visual world, and what visual sociologists do. It will also provide some helpful resources and further readings.

Let’s start with a very simplified approach to understanding visual sociology. I like to describe what visual sociology is by showing what people do with visual sociology. In doing so I tend to simplify this vast discipling into three different areas. It is a rather crude way of simplifying an area of study with so much variety, however it is a great place to begin to get your head around the array of possibilities that visual sociological study can offer you. Below I have identified three areas in which most visual sociologists will engage in at least once, however it is important to acknowledge that there are very blurred distinctions between these areas I delineate and many research projects or academics themselves will engage in multiple areas at once.

1. The image itself:

Studying images that already exist out in the world. This might be studying photographs, advertisements, product packaging, music videos, costume design, etc. The visual of anything already existing. You may want to study the image itself and the representations within the image, you may look at the way the audience makes meaning from the images studied, you can also explore at the way the image was produced or circulated, or a combination of all of these.

2. Using or creating images in research:

This is the practice of inserting images into the research process. This can be simply using images in an interview or asking participants to bring images into the interview process. Researchers can create images in the research process for example through visual ethnography. A researcher might also have participants generate images for example taking photos of their experience at work, creating maps of their neighbourhood, making their own film, diagraming a social phenomenon, etc. The options are endless.

3. Using images to present data:

The final way in which sociologist commonly engage with the visual is by presenting their data visually. For example, using their data to then create a graphic novel, turning their research into a play, creating an exhibition around their findings, etc.

This section is under construction as I attempt to narrow down a long list of useful academic sources on the vast discipline of visual sociology. My absolute favourite book to start with theoretically thinking about images is Practices of Looking by Sturkin and Cartwright. While originally published in 2001, there are at least three versions now and any version you get your hands on is still just as relevant.

If you are more interested in visual methods, then Gillian Rose’s Visual Methodologies is where I like to start. It has become a standard text for students and there are now 5 editions with the most recent published in 2022.