We live in a hyper-visual world, where the image plays a key role in identification, ideological unveiling and socialization of meanings. But for a long time the image was neglected in the context of qualitative research methods. In this sense, it is essential that the human and social sciences recognize the potential of images for the purposes of social investigation, even though creating them might be characterized as an activity that requires expertise. Image analysis is not a simple task, easily accessible to any researcher, since overcoming the inherent level of interpretation, or the level of common sense, requires deepening the theoretical frameworks that help to read beyond what it tells at a first look. In this sense, this paper presents a practical exercise of a photograph analysis based on the documentary method, which has its origin in Karl Mannheim's Sociology of Knowledge. The adaptation of the documentary method for image analysis was developed by Ralf Bohnsack, who, to that end, also returned to the theory of Iconography by Ervin Panofsky and the contributions of authors such as Max Imdahl and Roland Barthes. With this article we aim to offer a counterpoint to the recurring criticism that claims lack of theoretical grounding, reflection, and methodological rigor in both the treatment and the analysis of data. At the same time, we intended to encourage the inclusion of other sources in addition to text/interview and observation, such as photographs, images and movies, in the qualitative research.
Image; Photograph; Image analysis; Documentary method; Qualitative methodologies
