The Magic of Theater: Photographing a Performative Academic Career

Authors

Charles Vanover, University of South FloridaFollow

SelectedWorks Author Profiles:

Charles Vanover

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2021

ISSN

ISSN: 1532-7086 Online ISSN: 1552-356X

Abstract

I discuss my efforts as a “good enough” photographer and describe the role photographs play communicating important moments from a series of ethnodramas I built about the Chicago Public Schools. I discuss my early efforts to use photography to legitimize my arts-based research practice, describe how my goals changed, and explain how I created images to communicate the energy of live theater. Building on Eisner’s theoretical work, I discuss three tensions of my photographic practice: intention versus improvisation, action versus artifice, and safety versus possibility. These tensions emphasize my limits as a photographer and the possibilities of arts-based research.

Publisher

SAGE Publications, Inc

Recommended Citation

Vanover, C. (2021). The Magic of Theater: Photographing a Performative Academic Career. Cultural Studies ↔ Critical Methodologies, 21(1), 41–55. https://doi.org/10.1177/1532708620931136