Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Interdisciplinary Roots and Digital Branches of Visual Political Communication Research

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Visual Political Communication

Abstract

This chapter positions political communication research within the broader field of visual research methods. Visual political communication research has its roots in a broad range of humanities and social science disciplines. Despite the emergence of a visual culture, the use of visual data in social research is still limited and lacks a systematic framework for the analysis of such data. The author begins this chapter by outlining a taxonomy of interdisciplinary research based on the origin and outlet of visual data. He then focuses specifically on visual political communication through social media, as this is now a ubiquitous and potent political phenomenon. He then reviews ten recently published analyses of visual social media data and examines the emerging patterns and gaps. The chapter concludes with recommendations that could help strengthen both the role of visual data in political communication research and our analysis of such data.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 49.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 64.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Adi, A., Gerodimos, R., & Lilleker, D. G. (2018). ‘Yes We Vote’: Civic mobilisation and impulsive engagement on Instagram. Javnost—The Public, 25(3), 315–332.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aelbrecht, W. (2015). Decline and renaissance: Photographing Detroit in the 1940s and 1980s. Journal of Urban History, 41, 307–325.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baldwin-Philippi, J. (2018). The technological performance of populism. New Media & Society. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444818797591.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bell, P. (2012). Content analysis of visual images. In J. Hughes (Ed.), SAGE visual methods (Vol. 3, pp. 31–58). London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bock, A., Isermann, H., & Knieper, T. (2011). Quantitative content analysis of the visual. In J. Hughes (Ed.), The SAGE handbook of visual research methods (pp. 265–282). London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bossetta, M. (2018). The digital architectures of social media: Comparing political campaigning on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat in the 2016 U.S. election. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 95(2), 471–496.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buckingham, D. (2012). Creative’ visual methods in media research: Possibilities, problems and proposals. In J. Hughes (Ed.), SAGE visual methods (Vol. 1). London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burkhardt, G., et al. (2003). EnGauge 21st century skills: Literacy in the digital age. http://pict.sdsu.edu/engauge21st.pdf.

  • Caple, H. (2013). Photojournalism: A social semiotic approach. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Carlson, E. D., Engebretson, J., & Chamberlain, R. M. (2012). Photovoice as a social process of critical consciousness. In J. Hughes (Ed.), SAGE visual methods (Vol. 4, pp. 131–150). London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Casas, A., & Williams, N. W. (2018). Images that matter: Online protests and the mobilizing role of pictures. Political Research Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1177/1065912918786805.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chalfen, R. (2011a). Differentiating practices of participatory visual media production. In E. Margolis & L. Pauwels (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of visual research methods (pp. 186–200). London: Sage.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Chalfen, R. (2011b). Looking two ways: Mapping the social scientific study of visual culture. In E. Margolis & L. Pauwels (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of visual research methods (pp. 24–48). London: Sage.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Clark-Ibáñez, M. (2007). Inner-city children in sharper focus: Sociology of childhood and photo elicitation interviews. In G. Stanczak (Ed.), Visual research methods (pp. 167–196). London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Collier, J., & Collier, M. (1986). Visual anthropology: Photography as a research method. Albuquerque: UNM Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • David, E. (2007). Signs of resistance: Marking public space through a renewed cultural activism. In G. Stanczak (Ed.), Visual research methods (pp. 225–254). London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Driscoll, K., & Thorson, K. (2015). Searching and clustering methodologies: Connecting political communication content across platforms. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 659(1), 134–148.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • El-Nawawy, M., & Elmasry, M. H. (2016). The signs of a strongman: A semiotic and discourse analysis of Abdelfattah Al-Sisi’s Egyptian presidential campaign. International Journal of Communication, 10, 2275–2296.

    Google Scholar 

  • Frank, L. K., Harrison, R., Hellersberg, E., MacHover, K., & Steiner, M. (1951). Personality development in adolescent girls. Monographs of the Society for the Research in Child Development, 16(1), 1–316.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Friedman, A. (2016). Three-year-old photographers: Educational and parental mediation as a basis for visual literacy via digital photography in early childhood. Journal of Media Literacy Education, 8(1), 15–31.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gerodimos, R. (2015). At the edge of the present (film: 16 mins, produced by R. Gerodimos). http://vimeo.com/gerodimos/edge.

  • Gerodimos, R. (2018). Youth and the city: Reflective photography as a tool of urban voice. Journal of Media Literacy Education, 10(1), 82–103.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gerodimos, R., & Justinussen, J. (2015). Obama’s 2012 Facebook campaign: Political communication in the age of the like button. Journal of Information Technology & Politics, 12(2), 113–132.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gotschi, E., Delve, R., & Freyer, B. (2009). Participatory photography as a qualitative approach to obtain insights into farmer groups. Field Methods, 21, 290–308.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grigor, T., & Katchi.db, R. (2015). Debris of what-would-have-been: A photo-essay concerning deindustrialization in hyper-capitalist and post-socialist cities. Journal of Urban History, 41, 294–306.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gubrium, A., & Harper, K. (2013). Participatory visual and digital methods. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harper, D. (2002). Talking about pictures: A case for photo elicitation. Visual Studies, 17(1), 13–26.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harper, D. (2012). Framing photographic ethnography: A case study. In J. Hughes (Ed.), SAGE visual methods (Vol. 2, pp. 111–134). London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Henny, L. M. (2012). Trend report: Theory and practice of visual sociology. In J. Hughes (Ed.), SAGE visual methods (Vol. 1, pp. 1–64). London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hinthorne, L. L. (2012). A picture is worth a thousand words. Using the visual interpretation narrative exercise to elicit non-elite perceptions of democracy. Field Methods, 24(3), 348–364.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hughes, J. (Ed.). (2012). SAGE visual methods. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kautt, Y. (2018). Practice and structure as concepts of a sociology of visual communication: Toward a methodology of visual and structural analysis. Qualitative Inquiry. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077800418792022.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kharroub, T., & Bas, O. (2015). Social media and protests: An examination of Twitter images of the 2011 Egyptian revolution. New Media & Society. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444815571914

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lapenta, F. (2011). Some theoretical and methodological views on photo-elicitation. In E. Margolis & L. Pauwels (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of visual research methods (pp. 201–213). London: Sage.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Larsson, A. O. (2017). Skiing all the way to the polls: Exploring the popularity of personalized posts on political Instagram accounts. Convergence: The International Journal of Research Into New Media Technologies. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354856517741132.

  • Malherbe, N., Suffla, S., Seedat, M., & Bawa, U. (2016). Visually negotiating hegemonic discourse through Photovoice: Understanding youth representations of safety. Discourse & Society. https://doi.org/10.1177/0957926516664255.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Margolis, E., & Pauwels, L. (Eds.). (2011). The SAGE handbook of visual research methods. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Neumayer, C., & Rossi, L. (2018). Images of protest in social media: Struggle over visibility and visual narratives. New Media & Society, 20(11), 4293–4310.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Neill, S. J. (2013). Image matters: Climate change imagery in US, UK and Australian newspapers. Geoforum, 49, 10–19.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Orellana, M. F. (1999). Space and place in an urban landscape: Learning from children’s views of their social worlds. Visual Sociology, 14(1/2), 73–89.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parry, K. (2010). A visual framing analysis of British press photography during the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict. Media, War & Conflict, 3(1), 67–85.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parry, K. (2011). Images of liberation? Visual framing, humanitarianism and British press photography during the 2003 Iraq invasion. Media, Culture & Society, 33(8), 1185–1201.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pauwels, L. (2011). An integrated conceptual framework for visual social research. In E. Margolis & L. Pauwels (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of visual research methods (pp. 3–23). London: Sage.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Pearce, W., Özkula, S. M., Greene, A. K., Teeling, L., Bansard, J. S., Omena, J. J., & Rabello, E.T. (2018). Visual cross-platform analysis: Digital methods to research social media images. Information, Communication & Society. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2018.1486871

  • Prins, E. (2012). Participatory photography: A tool for empowerment or surveillance? In J. Hughes (Ed.), SAGE visual methods (Vol. 4, pp. 221–238). London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rabikowska, M. (2010). Whose street is it anyway? Visual ethnography and self-reflection. Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, 13(1), 58–83.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Samuels, J. (2007). When words are not enough: Eliciting children’s experiences of Buddhist monastic life through photographs. In G. Stanczak (Ed.), Visual research methods (pp. 197–224). London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schiller, J., & Tillett, B. (2004). Using digital images with young children: Challenges of integration. Early Child Development and Care, 174, 401–414.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smit, R., Heinrich, A., & Broersma, M. (2018). Activating the past in the Ferguson protests: Memory work, digital activism and the politics of platforms. New Media & Society, 20(9), 3119–3139.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stanczak, G. (Ed.). (2007). Visual research methods: Image, society, and representation. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Suchar, C. S. (1988). Photographing the changing material culture of a gentrified community. Visual Sociology, 3(2), 17–22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Suchar, C. S. (1992). Icons and images of gentrification: The changed material culture of an urban community: Gentrification and Urban Change. Research in Urban Sociology, 2, 165–192.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tunstall, S., Tapsell, S., & House, M. (2004). Children’s perceptions of river landscapes and play: What children’s photographs reveal. Landscape Research, 29, 181–204.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wagner, J. (2011). Visual studies and empirical social inquiry. In E. Margolis & L. Pauwels (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of visual research methods (pp. 49–71). London: Sage.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Wang, C., & Burris, M. A. (1997). Photovoice: Concept, methodology, and use for participatory needs assessment. Health, Education & Behaviour, 24, 369–387.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang, C. C., Morrel-Samuels, S., Hutchison, P. M., Bell, L., & Pestronk, R. M. (2004). Flint photovoice: Community building among youths, adults, and policymakers. American Journal of Public Health, 94, 911–913.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Media and Communication, Bournemouth University, London, UK

    Roman Gerodimos

Authors
  1. Roman Gerodimos
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Roman Gerodimos .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Media and Communication, Bournemouth University, Poole, UK

    Anastasia Veneti , Daniel Jackson  & Darren G. Lilleker ,  & 

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Gerodimos, R. (2019). The Interdisciplinary Roots and Digital Branches of Visual Political Communication Research. In: Veneti, A., Jackson, D., Lilleker, D.G. (eds) Visual Political Communication. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-18729-3_4

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation