Journal article

Experiencing a Mosque Through Photography: Islam As an Ordinary Religion

BHT

  • 2021
Published in:
  • Visual Ethnography. - Altrimedia Edizioni. - 2021, vol. 10, no. 2, p. 31-48
English In this article, the author reflects on using photography for an ethno-sociological study which interrogates the spatial configuration of a mosque in Switzerland. After defining the concept of spatial configuration and presenting his field, the author considers several difficulties pertaining to the photography of concrete situations. It is shown that photography enables the researcher to take a critical distance from their own ethnographic activity and the way it can influence the behaviour of actors in the field. Through analyzing spatial configurations as enabled by photography, the author advances two social logics pertaining to the constitution of social space: discretion and conviviality. These logics, as well as the photographic method used in their elaboration, are shown to be pertinent for the study of Islam as an ordinary religion.
Faculty
Rectorat
Department
Centre Suisse Islam et Société
Language
  • English
Classification
Religion, theology
Other electronic version

visual ethnography journal

License
License undefined
Open access status
green
Identifiers
Persistent URL
https://folia.unifr.ch/unifr/documents/319919
Statistics

Document views: 91 File downloads:
  • experiencingamosquethroughphotography.islamasanordinaryreligion-doi0.12835.pdf: 80