Inge Daniels on Amateur Photographic Practices in Contemporary Japan

In this episode of AnthroTalking, we talk to Inge Daniels about her ongoing research on amateur photographic practises in Japan. Daniels is an Associate Professor in Social Anthropology at University of Oxford, and also a Fellow at St Cross College. She finished her PhD in 2001 at University College London, and in 2010 she published the book “The Japanese House: Material Culture in the Modern Home” at Berg Publishers (Oxford), which won the ICAS Book Prize in 2013. In this episode, Daniels tells us about how the stereotype of Japanese people taking lots of photos can be said to carry some truth with it. She was intrigued by how the people she met and lived with in Japan tended to avoid displaying personal photos. Instead of associating photos with memories, to Japanese people, it is more about the future and looking forward, Daniels argues. Analytically, photography as a practice enables them to question normative practices. Thus, by using photos, these people create a certain imagination of themselves and their family, but also beyond it.