Trajectories: digital/visual data on the move

Abstract

This article presents an outline of the concept ‘Trajectory’. I propose to understand trajectory not only as a trace of movement in a path but also as a working concept to reflect on the possibilities of visual/digital data collection for ethnographic research on the move. Images, I argue, along with some digital affordances such as metadata and GPS, can be a powerful device for ethnographic enquiry and a useful tool for reflexivity if used by making sense of the randomness of everyday mobility. The concept of ‘Trajectory’ seeks to reflect on the relationship between four elements: mobility, visual data, digital methods and reflexivity, focusing on the use of the mobile phone as a tool to engage with these elements while reflecting on them. The concept of trajectories is intended to establish a dialogue with that of the flâneur in de Certeau’s and Benjamin’s work and with some current approaches to visual/digital ethnography, especially those related to movement and senses, art and ethnography and mobilities and locative media.

Notes

[1] Baudelaire mentions in a footnote to the text that Constantin Guys, an illustrator who Baudelaire saw as a role model for this ‘Painter of Modern Life’, inspired the essay.

[2] Although the relationship between ethnographic inquiry and technologies is clearly subject to controversy and discussion, see for example Vergunst (2011).

[3] In a first attempt to think about the concept of ‘trajectory’, I have published a ‘photo-essay’ with some seed ideas (Gómez Cruz 2013) that I extend here.

[4] A cyclist practitioner herself.

[5] I could use any other app, it just happens that I was already using this one. Nevertheless, it is important to note that an app that can synchronise images, texts and audio recordings in real time, along with GPS information, creates a workflow that allows these trajectories to be cohesively observed as such.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Edgar Gómez Cruz

Edgar Gómez Cruz has a background in media studies, sociology and anthropology and his interests are digital visual culture, digital ethnography and digital photography. He has worked in Mexico, Spain, the UK and is currently in Australia.