Historical development and significance of documentary photography
Since its origin, photography represented both – a form of art and a medium for social exploration at the same time. The foundation of photography and sociology occurred almost in a synchronised manner, at the beginning of the 19th century, when Auguste Conte set the grounds of sociology as a science and Louis Daguerre invented daguerreotype, one of the first photographic techniques. Hence, first documentary photographs develop parallelly to the development of sociology as a science, allowing not only the research of the society, but also the visual representation of research insights in the printed media, leading to the emergence of photojournalism at the beginning of the 20th century. Due to the fact that they contain numerous “non-verbal truths”, on the grounds of which the reality can be reconstructed and presented to the broader public, nowadays documentary photographs still have great value as sources of information.
Photograph 1. Convicted person and a researcher during photo shooting for the purpose of PrisonLIFE Project, Belgrade District Prison, 2023. Photographer: Ana Batrićević
Photography as a research method
Broader application of visual methods in sociology was enhanced in 1974, when a scientific paper by Howard Becker entitled as “Photography and Sociology” was published. This paper highlights a series of features that photography and sociology have in common, primarily when it comes to topics and issues that they address, emphasizing that they represent two potential ways to explore the society.
Photography plays an important role in the modern society, which is confirmed by the words of contemporary media theoretician Lev Manovich, who explains that we live in the “photographic culture”, dominated by pictures that are available in both – virtual and public space, thanks to a simplified access to global visual media. Nowadays, it is considered that the application of photography in society exploration should be observed in the context that exceeds methodological and theoretical boundaries.
In the past couple of decades, a growing number of researchers in the field of social sciences and humanities have been including photography in their work, either within field researches, or in various forms of applied and scientific activities. This methodological step forward coincides with a broader visual and pictorial twist and the establishment of visual culture conception at the end of the 80s and the beginning of the 90s in most social sciences and humanities, including sociology and anthropology.
In Serbia, a more intense application of photographic method in social sciences is related to the institutionalisation of visual anthropology and visual sociology throughout the first decade of the 21st century.
Photograph 2. Photographs made for the purpose of PrisonLIFE Project, Belgrade District Prison, 2023. Photographer: Ana Batrićević
Apart from the aesthetic or artistic aspect, the implementation of photographing as a data collection method in social sciences also has its practical side. Traditional data collection methods are frequently accompanied by certain limitations, which is particularly noticeable when a research is related to vulnerable groups. On the other side, visual research methods, particularly photography, appear to be very useful when working with persons who belong to marginalised groups. That is the reason why photography is considered as a means to facilitate the access to the sources of information and research participants and contribute to the richness and quality of the collected material. Nevertheless, in anthropological research, photography does not have to represent only a research method, but it can also be the subject of research. In such cases, a photograph appears as a piece of artistic documentation that describes, interprets, but also criticises and provides information, allowing the organisation and articulation of past and presence.
Documentary photography as the testimony of moral and social climate in prisons
Moral and social climate in prisons, as one of key factors that determine the quality of prison life and the success of convicted persons’ resocialisation, cannot be fully understood or depicted to the broader public solely by applying standard research methods. Scientific relevance of the results that are obtained by the implementation of MQPL (Measuring the Quality of Prison Life) scale is indisputable, but it seems that a complete insight in the condition and relations in prisons can be obtained only when the visual aspect is added to the narrative, in the form of documentary photography.
Photograph 3. A researcher photographing a convicted person during leisure time, for the purpose of PrisonLIFE Project, Belgrade District Prison, 2023. Photographer: Nikola Drndarević
A multitude of extremely powerful documentary photographs from everyday life of convicted persons in Belgrade District Prison were published in 2016 by our renowned photographer and anthropologist Igor Čoko, in his photo book “Living behind Bars”. The application of dog and horse assisted resocialisation programmes in Penitentiary Institution in Sremska Mitrovica was photographed by the author of this post, documenting emotional moments of human-animal interaction. These photographs were made spontaneously, following the established regime of convicted persons working with dogs and horses and, as such, they represent authentic evidence about the application of these innovative resocialization programmes. They are presented in photo books “Second Chance” (2019) and “Freedom inside the Circle” (2021) published by the Institute of Criminological and Sociological Research in Belgrade and at several photography exhibitions.
The aforementioned photographs represent photo stories or photo narratives, as a form of narrative approach to photography, that enables the researcher to “tell the story” on the grounds of a series of photographs containing multi-layered information about the research subject. In that way, academic writing goes beyond the traditional borders and storytelling becomes a specific qualitative research method. Documentary photographs of the author of this post have found their place in co-author books “Encounter of social and biological: greening of prison communities” (2020) and “Moral and Social Climate in Prisons” (2024), also published by the Institute of Criminological and Sociological Research in Belgrade. However, the role of photography in these two publications is predominantly to depict the prison environment and living conditions that are discussed in the books, rather than to tell individual stories of research participants.
Photograph 4. Book “Second Chance: Convicted Persons Working with Dogs at Penitentiary Institution Sremska Mitrovica” Photographer: Ana Batrićević
Photography as a way to present prison life conditions to the broader public
The relevance of photography, especially documentary, for anthropological communication and analysis is derived from the fact that nonverbal language of photo realism is understood universally – at the intercultural level as well as in different cultures. Photography has a specific relation with both – past as well as presence, which allows certain information or experiences to be emphasized but also criticised, through the deconstruction of the documentary language and sceptical interpretation of documentary authenticities. That is how artistic documentation becomes an open and constantly changing source of information, the meaning of which is discovered through dialogue, exchange of opinions and active participation of all relevant subjects.
Documentary photography allows the broader public to have an insight into living conditions behind the prison walls as well as to see the challenges that convicted persons and prison staff are facing on a daily basis. That contributes to the suppression of stereotypes, discrimination and stigmatisation of convicted persons, which is very important for their successful social reintegration. At the same time, the borders between the world “behind bars” and the “free world” are erased, while the focus remains on life stories and feelings of “common” people from both sides. Photography is also a powerful means to initiate positive social changes, since visual impact can be extremely strong, and, therefore, the photographs made in prison environment should be observed from that aspect as well.
Photograph 5. Convicted persons looking at the photographs made throughout the application of horse-assisted resocialization programme, Penitentiary Institution in Sremska Mitrovica in 2019. Photographer: Ana Batrićević
The Role of photography in the resocialisation of convicted persons
Photo stories created by researchers have both – scientific as well as artistic value. In these photographs, the author presents and analyses a specific occurrence through his own or the stories of other persons. Despite being very personal, they are shaped by certain global, social, culturological and historical contexts and transmit some group and social values and limitations. But, a question can be raised what is the impact of photography on the success of resocialisation of convicted persons that are being photographed? One example can highlight the importance of photography and its capacities to contribute to resocialisation. While photographing convicted persons working with horses at Penitentiary Institution in Sremska Mitrovica for several months in 2019, the author of this post printed photographs made during this field research and gave them to convicted persons, who were allowed to keep them. Convicted persons had the opportunity to discuss and exchange their impressions about these photographs as well as to show them to their family members during visits or weekend/vacation leaves. In that sense, the photographs encouraged convicted persons to express and share their impressions about horse assisted programme, but they also allowed their families to gain a more detailed and comprehensive insight in their engagement within that programme and to support them.
Photograph 6. Convicted persons looking at the photographs made throughout the application of horse-assisted resocialization programme, Penitentiary Institution in Sremska Mitrovica in 2019. Photographer: Ana Batrićević
Ana Batrićević