Multiple media Présentation

Text, image and sound. Narrative in all its forms: new technologies, new questions

In this paper, I explore the development of the relationship between members of the community and the self as an extension of the camera (video and photographic), the influence of this experience of intense and eventually intimate long-term sharing on our respective lives and the multimedia body of data I collected. The focus of the documentation includes initiation, funeral and possession rites as well as the rapport that developed over time between members of the community and the unexpected visitor on an extended stay I turned out to be.
The paper traces the evolution of this long-term relationship, from the early beginnings and the difficulties of my first encounters with the Ovahimba community of Etanga to the middle years of acquiring the status of an integrated family member to my involvement with community development during the latter years and the problems that arose when it was time to leave the field and start analyzing the materials. Having gradually become an adopted member of the family and more or less integrated depending on the time and the occasion, eventually identified as the record maker of their daily lives, I ended up sharing in intimate family moments that extend beyond the framework of any anthropological undertaking. This situation developed mainly due to the extensive length of my stay; there simply came a time when the relationship between members of the family and myself took on a dimension of close kinship. Having grown into the role of the image recorder, I continued to work and was often solicited to record events I would not naturally have paid attention to. This lead to me being witness and recording both intimate family scenes, presenting information limited to the sphere of family secrets, and important meetings and customary court cases held within the community.
At varying times, the emotional bond between us played a different role. At times, it prevented me from recording a certain event, such as the intimacy of a funeral, at other times it provided access to information I would not have been able to acquire in any other manner, and at yet other times, and indeed time allowed certain members of the family I lived with to develop a special relationship with the eye of the lens, subtle catching of the eye to indicate details worth filming, pausing performance during cassette changes and enhancing performance on some occasions are but a few examples in case. During the processing of the data, a particular area of concern is to distinguish between what I may justifiably divulge and what should remain within the realm of family intimacy. One viable solution would be to treat the intimate aspect of my knowledge in the form of fictional writing. In the case of the image, still and moving, discretion will be a determining factor in the decision what to show and what not to show.