Creating Visual Essays Narrative and The PDF

Heng T (2019) Creating Visual Essays: Narrative and Thematic Approaches, in Pauwels, L and Mannay, D (eds) The Sage
Handbook of Visual Research Methods, London: Sage pp 617‐628
Creating Visual Essays: Narrative and Thematic

Approaches
Terence Heng
INTRODUCTION
Communicating social research in visual forms is becoming increasingly popular, not simply
because of the affordances of technology like smartphones, e-publishing and digital printing
that supports the visual, but also because of the acute awareness that we as social researchers
have that we are all living in world that constantly consumes and produces visual material in
the form of photographs, videos, social media posts and more. Where consumption used to
outstrip production, the two now vie fiercely for our attention. Of the many ways of using the
visual in social research, the visual essay stands out as a significant way of challenging the
archetypal social science journal article format of a set number of words, with a limited number
of illustrations. Visual essays have dealt with a multitude of topics and in a wide range of social
science disciplines (see Blandy, Congdon and McKnight, 1988; Cavin, 2008; Heng, 2014;
Hunt, 2014; Lubeck, 1990; Shanaathanan, 2015; Traverso, 2011; Yagou, 2011), with journals
like Visual Communication, Visual Ethnography and Cultural Geographies dedicating sections
of issues for visual essays and other visually-oriented outputs.
Visual essays also come in all sorts of shapes and forms, and to say that there is only
one ‘type’ of visual essay in the social sciences would be erroneous. However, given the
multitude of possibilities and permutations to this genre, I propose that this chapter looks solely
at the visual essay as one that is a compilation of photographs and text, arranged in a way that
communicates one’s research findings and/or fieldwork in new and significant ways, and in
doing so achieving ways of understanding that text alone could not. This definition then relies
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on several conditions – one, it should contain images, and in this case photographs (although
in other visual essays we can easily see other kinds of still images, like maps, sketches and
illustrations). Two, it should be oriented towards one’s research – optimally helping to connect
the reader to your theoretical frameworks and eventual arguments. These two conditions lead
on to the third – that the images should be used and arranged in meaningful ways, and not be
relegated to mere illustrations where ‘convenient’. Such actions lend credence to the argument
that visual essays are an easier alternative to developing ‘full’ journal articles, where in fact,
the labour involved is not less, but simply different.
This chapter does not purport to critically examine or theorise the visual essay, nor is it
an attempt to discuss the visual essay’s history or the ethical issues surrounding photography
and the social sciences. All these aspects of the visual essay have been dealt with at length by
other scholars (for example Grady, 1991; Pauwels, 2010; Rose, 2008; Suchar, 1997). Pauwels
(2015) dedicates an entire chapter of his book on visualising the social sciences to the visual
essay, pointing to photojournalism and the photo essay as the origins of the visual essay, citing
the work of W Eugene Smith, Henri Cartier-Bresson and Rene Burns. He then goes on to
consider what a ‘visual social scientific essay’ (Pauwels. 2015: 143) looks like, outlining
several important characteristics, for example, paying attention to the needs of an academic
audience, the necessity of text as a companion to images, the possibility of a need for narrative
structure (which Pauwels disagrees with) and the particularity of images. Pauwels also points
out that the more complex the visual essay, the greater the need for technical competency on
the part of the author – something which I have echoed in other texts (Heng, 2017).
Consequently, in this chapter, I will illustrate some of the ways in which visual essays
have been arranged and written for the social sciences, particularly in the fields of
anthropology, sociology and geography. I will cite various case studies from recent visual
essays published in academic journals, but for the main part will make use of my own fieldwork
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as a way of deconstructing the process of building a visual essay – that is, what kinds of photos
do we choose from the ones that we have taken, and how do we arrange them in meaningful
ways. To do this, I will be drawing from a single incident in my fieldwork, that of documenting
the transformation of a Singaporean public housing estate into a sacred space during the
Hungry Ghost Festival.
THE HUNGRY GHOST FESTIVAL, SPIRIT MEDIUMS,
SPIRIT ALTERS and SACRED SPACE IN SINGAPORE
Although it is not the purview of this chapter to discuss the Hungry Ghost Festival or the use
of space in Singapore, it is important to provide some context to the decision-making process
when choosing photographs. As I and others have written before, the Hungry Ghost Festival is
a month-long celebration that takes place during the seventh month of the Chinese lunar
calendar, which is usually around August or September. Adherents to the festival, usually those
who espouse a set of beliefs scholars tend to term ‘Chinese Religion’ (Debernardi, 2006),
believe that during this period spirits of the dead are released from the netherworld and are
given permission to roam the earth for 30 days. In Singapore, many believe that the spirits are
released as a form of time-off from hell, as well as being given an opportunity to be preached
to by priests so that they might repent and be reincarnated (a specific ritual called chao du is
performed during this period for this very purpose).
The social and spatial consequences for the Hungry Ghost Festival in Singapore is the
transformation of many mundane spaces into sacred places. Roadside altars and temporary
shrines spring up from nowhere, patterned with offerings of food, drinks, incense sticks and
toys (for child ghosts). Copious amounts of ash are blown and scattered as individuals burn
kim zua or hell money, and other paper effigies of items required by spirits to get by – including
clothes, toiletries and a special passport to exit the netherworld.
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My research on the Hungry Ghost Festival has focused on the ways in which individuals
express and shape their ethnic identities through hierophany - the formation of sacred space
(Eliade, 1961; Woods, 2013). I have developed a visual essay (Heng, 2014) as well as a
visually-focused article (Heng, 2015) on the Hungry Ghost Festival, arguing that such roadside
altars act as transient aesthetic markers that resist the homogenizing effects of state-dictated
ethnic policies. I have also used the festival to teach photography and how to photograph space
from a social research perspective (Heng, 2017). In this chapter I will make use of new
photographs and observations from the Hungry Ghost Festival, in particular, the activities of a
spirit altar, led by a pair of spirit mediums, or tang-ki.
Spirit mediums and spirit altars are a significant part of Chinese religion (DeBernardi,
2006) in Singapore (Heng, 2016). The former are individuals who enter into a trance and are
said to be possessed by the spirit of a deity they worship, whilst the latter are organisations that
tend to operate out of informal and ‘unofficial’ spaces (Kong, 1993), like factory units and
residential housing. Land and space is highly regulated by the state, so many spirit altars do
not have the financial resources to bid for dedicated-use space, instead temporarily applying to
town councils in public housing estates for the use of open fields, town squares or other
common areas. When given permission, these spaces are transformed materially, culturally,
socially and spiritually into itinerant temples sporting banners, facades and altars.
Over the last few years, I have embedded myself into the activities of a number of spirit
altars scattered around Singapore. One such spirit altar is Hai Lian Tua, located in the north-
west of Singapore, and run by a man, Jeffrey and a woman, Doreen, both in their thirties who
inherited the mantle from their grandmother, herself a medium. Because of the layout of their
public housing estate, there is no large communal field in which to stage events for the spirit
altar, and as such Hai Lian Tua is one of the few spirit altars that I know that actively make use
of the void deck for their work. A void deck is an empty space on the ground floor of almost
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all public housing flats in Singapore, and is designed to be a tabula rasa for community
activities, though it is most commonly used for events to host a large number of visitors, often
a wedding or a funeral. During the Hungry Ghost Festival, Hai Lian Tua converted a void deck
into a temporary temple, and performed a 5-day series of salvation rituals for wandering ghosts.
I spent this period photographing and observing rituals, activities and interactions in the void
deck, creating 550 images and with the help of my research assistant Shawn Goh, who recorded
45 minutes of GoPro footage. I will be making use of these still images to show how to create
a visual essay.
DEVELOPING THE INTRODUCTION
Although the primary point of visual essays should be images, it is still important to introduce
the images and visual essay in a way that contextualises the essay for the reader. In many visual
essays located in the social sciences, this is often a short essay of about 1000 words that
provides both a theoretical underpinning as well as explanations that help readers to better
understand the images. There are many debates surrounding the use of text when working with
visual methods – some scholars argue against the use of text, whilst others see text as crucial
to the data dissemination process. In my work, I very much belong to the latter since the field
that I write about (sacred space in Singapore, especially pertaining to Chinese religion) is not
as well-known as for example, American politics or mainstream Christian practices. As such,
and even in this chapter, I always tend to spend some time creating a context for my reader. As
a visual researcher, I have found that such context helps my readers better appreciate the visual
nuances of the photographs, leaving me more room to experiment with captions and other text
(see Heng, 2012).
One might consider the introduction to a social scientific visual essay to work as a
condensed version of a journal article’s introduction, literature review and methodology
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sections, that explain enough so that the images can be appreciated, but not so much that the
images become redundant. It is very tempting to try to explain everything that one has done, is
doing and hopes to do in this project, and this is very much the case if the visual essay is an
extract of a much larger research project (this happens quite often). Instead, the introduction
should do the following things – one, it should map out the social, cultural and (if applicable)
historical context of what the visual essay is about. This is especially important if the potential
audience is global rather than local, and even more so if the field is one that is relatively niche
or obscure. Two, it should attempt to explain briefly what theories and/or theoretical
frameworks underpin the research project and the photographs that have emerged from the
project. It is not mandatory to explain in detail how the photographs address theoretical
questions, as this would leave no work for the photographs themselves. Instead, outlining your
theoretical approach helps to signpost clues within the images for the reader to discover
themselves. Finally, it should include a brief overview of the methods and ethics undertaken in
creating these photographs. Whilst our usual standards and codes of ethics apply, it would also
be useful to consider ethical guidelines and statements from the societies and study groups that
specialize in visual research, particularly the International Visual Sociology Association and
the British Sociological Association’s Visual Sociology Study Group.
LINEAR, CHRONOLOGICAL AND NARRATIVE
The first and one of the most common ways to arrange photographs into an essay is through a
linear sequence, which is also often but not always chronological in its feel. Yeong-Ung
Yang’s visual essay, Endless Bus Trip (Yang, 2016), is an excellent example of the use of
images to develop a narrative structure, telling the stories of different bus-kkun – individuals
who sojourn on buses to out-of-town casinos for meal vouchers to sell on the black market.
Many of these bus-kkun are marginalized and othered, and the images tell a haunting, emotive
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story of their cyclical lives. Although not strictly chronological (the photographs were
obviously taken at separate times), and Yang’s essay makes use of the linearity of the bus
journey and its accompanying mundane waiting times to extract the sheer repetitiveness of the
acts the bus-kkun must do to extract a living. From waiting on the bus to waiting in the casino,
all the while reading, eating or sleeping. The narrative of waiting, moving, waiting and
repeating is powerfully evinced in each photograph that shows a different stage of the journey.
This method of arranging images into a visual essay, along with descriptive and
explanatory captions is useful when one is trying to show a sequence of events where the
sequence is an important aspect of what is being studied. Events like rituals (religious, cultural
or otherwise), parades, parties, or anything with a start and end time are good candidates for
this format. The other reason for using this format would be to present one’s findings in a
narrative, storytelling format. Sutherland (2016), notes how Bill Eppridge’s photo-essay on
drug addiction for LIFE magazine made use of a narrative format with an introduction, middle
and concluding section to create climatic and dramatic moments within the essay. As
Sutherland (2016:117) explains, ‘The narrative structure of the essay is quite transparent: this
presentation is a story with a beginning, a middle, and an end. It revolves around identifiable,
named characters with whom the reader is invited to identify. It contains moments of high
drama and emotional release.’ Of course, the images in such photo-essays do not have to be
strictly chronological, but they do tend to follow a kind of linearity, offering the reader a start
and finish. Such narrative formats are also useful because they take the reader on a journey
through the field, creating opportunities for them to immerse themselves within the experiences
and lives of the researcher and the researcher’s informants.
Because much of my research focuses on ritualistic behavior, I have found this format
to be very useful in explaining cultural practices and norms to audiences who might be
unfamiliar with Chinese and Southeast Asian contexts. For example, I have embedded visual
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essays into my conference presentations and keynotes as a way to communicate the rich and
highly textured material environments in which I make my observations (see Figure 1). In
choosing the photographs for a narrative structure, I ask myself the following questions. One,
what story am I telling about my informants – i.e. which particular ritual or event is important
here? Two, what are the climatic points in the sequence of events that are best shown, illustrated
and visualized through photographs? Three, which photographs both show part of the sequence,
but in themselves tell other stories and reveal other things about the subject they are
photographing? The last question is important, because even though we are primarily trying to
create a narrative, photographs should not simply be there where textual descriptions might
suffice (a common criticism levelled at visual researchers).
Figure 1: A screenshot of a typical PowerPoint slide used in presentations. The
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photographs are sequential, descriptive and create a visual narrative to my presentation.
In this way, I am almost able to do two presentations simultaneously
The photographs I am choosing from to create a sequence of 10 images is from a day in which
the spirit mediums engage in a short walkabout, or yew keng, around their neighbourhood –
visiting altars and performing cleansing rituals on behalf of residents. Without spending too
much time explaining these rituals, the sequence of events are as follows – the mediums enter
into a trance and become deities to their devotees, they then move a giant paper effigy of a
boat, containing petitions and various artefacts meant to be sent to the netherworld out of the
void deck. They tour the neighbourhood before stopping to cleanse an area with a number of
recent suicides, and then pay respects to a semi-permanent shrine to the Goddess of Mercy at
another void deck.
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Figure 2: Screenshot of sample photographs taken on the day of Yew Keng. Notice how
many angles and scenes are shot repeatedly to give the photographer a range of choices
in the post-processing and selection phase. This is an important part of a visual
researcher’s workflow
Although I recorded close to 600 photographs, a visual essay (especially for publication in a
peer-reviewed journal) often uses 10-15 images. Hence, for this purpose I will be showing 12
images per format, chosen from these 600. In a narrative/linear format, I decided to pick
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moments from the start of the ritual to the end that highlighted significant instances that did
two things. One, they showed what was going on, simple descriptiveness, and more
importantly, two, they also addressed theoretical questions that underpin the research that I do,
which include but are not limited to ‘How is sacred space formed’, ‘How do individuals make
use of vernacular spaces and make it part of the everyday sacred’ and ‘What is the role of the
individual and the body in making things sacred?’. In other words, the photographs in my
narrative visual essay do not just tell the story of what happened, but are also attempting to
answer questions related to theoretically-informed fieldwork.
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Figure 3: Narrative visual essay showing a linear sequence of events, from preparation to
trance to procession and rituals. In this chapter I will refer to the photographs from Left-
Right, Top to Bottom, as Images 3.1 to 3.12.
In Figure 3, I attempt to tell a chronological story of the mediums participating in Hai Lian
Tua’s Yew Keng rituals. I find that regardless of format, it is useful to begin a visual essay with
an establishing shot (image 3.1) that gives the reader an idea of the space in which the ritual is
taking place. Here, the void deck has been partially enclosed with a yellow plastic tarpaulin
sheet that is being used to protect various artefacts and altars from wind and rain. The long
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pathway and the structural beam above the yellow tarpaulin sheet also act as a compositional
tool known as leading lines (see Heng, 2017) that guides the reader’s eye towards the centre of
the image, where one can then enter the void deck to see the temporary temple set up inside.
The second photograph (image 3.2) then establishes the main altar in the void deck, and the
site in which the trancing ritual takes place. The trancing ritual is a key aspect of the identity
of spirit mediums and spirit altars, because it is the ritual in which the mediums surrender their
physical body to their deities. Their own soul leaves their body during a trance, residing in a
cloth flag held by one of their assistants.
Because of the importance of the trancing ritual and the role of the medium as an
embodiment of sacred space (Heng, 2016), I devoted four images (3.3 – 3.6) to show the
centrality of how, when given the right circumstances, mediums and spirit altars are able to
adapt to any space, official or unofficial, in order to do their religious work – one factor that
works in their favour when operating in Singapore. The trance works as follows – after a short
cleansing ritual, the medium sits in a special ritual chair and focuses on a kim sin, or idol of the
deity they wish to be possessed by. Their assistants chant a special song to invite this deity
(image 3.3), during which the medium will then sometimes shake, rock back and forth (image
3.4) or regurgitate depending on the deity whom they are connecting with (and their own
personal style). Once they stop moving, this is usually a signal for their assistants to robe them
in the vestments of their deity, at which point they are in a trance and considered literally the
deity possessing them. Once in a trance, devotees pay special attention to mediums (image 3.5),
revering them as gods, and asking for blessings, advice and favours. Mediums in a trance are
also there to ensure rituals are conducted properly (image 3.6), and it is not uncommon for a
medium to inspect ritual offerings and arrangements and making micro-adjustments along the
way.
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Images 3.7 to 3.12 show the yew keng ritual underway, as they move the giant paper
effigy boat out of its place in the temporary temple, before going on a walkabout in the
neighbourhood. The spirit altar is very careful to ensure that all activities cease by a certain
time to avoid issues with the town council which might affect future applications for use of the
void deck. The images I chose here depicted specific important points in the yew keng – from
moving the boat very gingerly out of its holding position, to ritually cleansing an area nearby.
The photographs also work to contrast the sacred with the everyday – I chose images shot at a
wider-angle, which considered the structures and architecture that surrounded and enveloped
the mediums and devotees. For instance, image 3.9 shows the group making their way through
a carpark. A photograph simply showing people walking and carrying a boat would have
sufficed in depicting the processional aspect of yew keng, but would do nothing to explain the
urban environment in which yew keng takes place, and why the procession itself is important
in spiritually mapping state-regulated modernity.
I coincide the conclusion of the visual essay with the end of the yew keng. In Image
3.11, the sin tua collectively move to another void deck in an adjacent block of flats, where
they kneel, bow and salute what appears to be an empty altar. Upon further inspection, the altar
was revealed to have a very small effigy of Guan Yin, the Goddess of Mercy, a significant deity
in the Buddhist pantheon. The final image, 3.12, may or may not have been the best choice. As
I looked at my library of photographs, I had to make a choice between a close-up of the altar
showing Guan Yin and a wider shot showing the position of the altar within the void deck,
surrounded by mundane objects. I chose the latter because it felt more finite and conclusive in
its nature, offering the reader a form of closure in gazing at the everyday.
THEMATIC VISUAL ESSAYS
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Figure 4: Thematic visual essay showing a semi-linear series of images of the use of a void
deck by Hai Lian Tua. In this chapter I will refer to the photographs from Left-Right,
Top to Bottom, as Images 4.1 to 4.12.
Visual essays organised around a theme or themes are commonplace in the literature, and
perhaps appear more frequently than those arranged linearly around a narrative (that said, most
narrative visual essays are also thematic in the broadest sense). For example, Minton, Pace and
Williams’s (2016) visual essay, Housing Crisis, is a discussion and visualization of London’s
gentrification and the complicity of the state – the authors combined a disparate set of images
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from multiple contributors into a coherent whole. From 3D renderings to images collected from
residents in council housing estates, to stills from a BBC documentary – the overarching themes
of loss, remembrance,uncertainty and regret become apparent, culminating in an image of an
empty, precariously surviving living room of a flat in Cressingham Gardens.
O’Brien (2010) took a more personal, autobiographical approach to his visual essay,
Mum’s Go to Sell the House. Here, he collaborated with his mother when she chose to sell their
family home after the death of O’Brien’s father. The visual essay was split into two parts, the
first documented the process of creating the images that would become a public extension of
his family’s photo album. The second were the finished products, a series of haunting
photographs of the material culture of this soon-to-gone home, giving the readers subtle but
powerful insights into the lives, memories and identities of his family. The interconnecting
themes of identity, material culture and space are also surfaced in Hunt’s (2016) visual essay
of corner shops in Bloomsbury in London. Hunt sought to photograph corner shops as a wider
ethnographic study of these shops’ product choices in relation to the political economy of the
city (and the borough) in which they were located. Starting with a series of images of
shopfronts, she dovetails these into a collage of environmental portraits of the shopkeepers.
Hunt’s choice of separating individual from shopfront allows us to ponder the shop sans
humanity, and to consider the material contexts of the spaces first, before dwelling on their
inhabitants.
In choosing and arranging my images based primarily on a theme rather than adhering
to a linear sequence of events, I considered the space in which Hai Lian Tua’s ritual was taking
place – the void deck and its surrounding areas. When not being used for events, void decks
are commonly public, empty and liminal, a place for individuals to pass through when leaving
and returning to their flats above (Ooi and Tan, 1992; Yuen, 2010). When occupied, passers-
by tend to skirt around the edges of the area, especially if it involves something religious, like
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a funeral, wake or altar activity. I saw the void deck as a fluid space of everyday life (Lefebvre
1996), open to appropriation and place-making by different groups and individuals. In doing
so the focus was not so much on the rituals of the spirit altar, but the ways in which space was
used and hierophanised (Eliade, 1961; Holloway, 2003).
The resulting sequence of images was not entirely linear, but still approximated to
something chronological - image 4.1 began in the evening and image 4.12 concluded at night.
However, unlike the photographs chosen for my sample of a linear, narrative visual essay, these
images focused on the portrayal of space and the material artefacts and social acts that texture
space. The void deck is commonly devoid of decoration or embellishment. A typical void deck
might have a permanent concrete table and chairs, covered in mosaic tiles or, in the case of
neighbourhoods with a high proportion of elderly residents, steel benches for individuals to sit
and rest. Otherwise, the void deck remains a tabula rasa for the occasional placement of
transient aesthetic markers (Heng, 2015).
Because the void deck is treated in a such a liminal manner, my photographs also
concentrated on the transient elements that populated it at this time. For example, images 4.2,
4.4 and 4.6 show three possible ‘stations’ for devotees to worship, observe or use. As
mentioned previously, image 4.2 is the altar for lost souls and child ghosts, while image 4.4
depicts ‘ghost toilets’ – places for visiting spirits to wash up (revealing the very mundane lives
of spirits – who have the same needs and wants as the living). Image 4.6 is a ‘healing station’
– where devotees can sit in front of a symbolic pot of herbs to receive supernatural treatment.
In all these images, these stations are temporal in their placement and fragile in their
composition, but at the same time are meant to provide a simulation of something more
permanent.
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The choice of photographs was thus not just a depiction of space and how such space
is used, because that could simply also be done through textual descriptions (though not as
efficiently). Description and depiction here are important, because they allow us to see
disparate elements coming together within the frame of the researcher’s gaze, but this is only
one aspect. Such photographs would inform, but they can and should also surprise and signify
(Barthes, 1981), so that the visual essay works on multiple levels for multiple audiences at the
same time. O’Brien’s (2010) haunting images of memories that teeter precariously into
becoming forgotten do not just show family memorabilia, but signifiers of lives together,
remembered, cherished but textures of loss and longing.
SOME THOUGHTS ABOUT CAPTIONS
The decisions to include captions in a visual essay, the type of captions or indeed any text that
surrounds and supplements one’s images are as theoretical as they are practical (see Becker,
1995; Harper, 2012; Pauwels, 2012). Many visual essays do not even include captions,
choosing either to let the photographs speak for themselves (O’Brien, 2010) or intersperse the
photographs throughout much longer segments of autoethnographic text (Richardson, 2017).
Because this chapter’s focus is on the selection and sequencing of photographs in a visual
essay, I will not spend a large amount of time discussing whether we should include captions
alongside photographs or not. To understand the debates surrounding captions, it would be
useful to consider writings by Chaplin (2006) and Hall (1973), where the former argued for
more autonomy of the visual in social science research, while acknowledging that much of the
imagery in such research remained true to a positivist tradition. As Chaplin (2006:45) notes,
‘captioning is a culturally specific practice, related to art-labeling and established as a
convention in printed books. In the context of the ideological demands of positivism,
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captioning became wedded to (welded to) the photograph.’ For the purposes of this chapter, I
shall simply provide a number of reflections based on the visual essays I have published that
made use of captions in different ways.
In my own practice, descriptive captions have been crucial to providing a certain level
of context to audiences who are unfamiliar with the culture and field of my research. In this
case, captions allow me to situate my photographs in particular cultural, social and economic
settings. This is particularly useful if a photograph is less descriptive and more expressive
(Edwards, 1997) or abstract. Whichever way a photograph works, captions contradictorily
reduce the number of words necessary in a visual essay because they reduce the descriptions
and explanations needed in my introduction, leaving a net result of having more space for
images. In a narrative-focused visual essay, captions become the narrator’s voice for
photographs (as was the case of Yang’s 2014 visual essay), giving hints and clues to the reader
about where the story is going and what is happening. In knowing what is happening, the reader
might then be able to further interpret on her own, what might be happening. In a book chapter
featuring stories of walking through spiritual cities (Heng, 2018), I showed two mini visual
essays of yew keng – one in the city and one in the suburbs of Singapore. In each essay I traced
the start to finish of the yew keng, and included captions describing what each scene and station
of the yew keng meant. Whilst this might have come across as overly descriptive, it also allowed
me to concisely explain the broad meanings of the image, which then allowed for more nuanced
understandings and interpretations to take place.
At the same time, captions do not need to be purely descriptive. Captions can take the
form of quotes from informants or collaborators (Traverso and Azúa, 2013), or can even take
on a more aesthetic slant as creative writing like poetry or prose (Traverso, 2009). In previous
work, I have made use of text to illustrate images, reversing the conventional wisdom of images
illustrating text. In a visual essay charting the urban landscape of Singapore (Heng, 2012), I
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used photographs gathered from my time as a professional wedding photographer to investigate
how urban space was textured through ritual and ethnic identity-making. The images were also
autoethnographic in nature – they were how I understood the ethnic (particularly Chinese)
textures that shaped Singapore’s built environment. Rather than simply caption them with
descriptions of what was happening, I chose to use poetry as a form of semi-autobiographical
notes that added to the emotional and evocative aesthetic of the photographs. The poetry,
written asynchronously with the photographs (with as much as 14 years apart), was part of my
own journey in understanding my ethnic identity as a Singaporean Chinese. Put together, the
photographs and poetry came together to develop new potential interpretations of Singaporean
Chinese identity-formation.
CONCLUSION: WHAT OF THE ABSTRACT AND THE
AESTHETIC
At the time of writing, most visual social scientific essays still approximate their text-focused
counterparts in developing a coherent argument, usually around a theoretical framework and
methodology. As such, many visual essays (mine included) still rely very much on photographs
and sequences of photographs that exhibit aspects of Barthes’s studium (Barthes, 1981),
characteristics of a photograph that lend themselves to be read and to be found interesting – the
two most obvious would be that such photographs inform and signify. They describe and
illustrate to the reader what is being photographed by the photographer, and they signify
potential social, cultural and/or historical meanings expressed in the way the photograph was
composed and created. To this extent many photographs in visual social scientific essays are
what I would call a ‘descriptive, technical approximation’ to their subject matter. In other
words, they adopt a what-you-see-is-what-you-get style of documentary photography. Perhaps
this has to do with historical issues that sociologists have with the lack of objectivity in
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photography (see Twine, 2006 for a discussion about the acceptability of photographs in
sociology), but there is no reason for us as visual researchers not to explore more abstract forms
of photography as ways to communicate our findings and our engagement with the social.
Ending a chapter with a call to explore more creative styles of photography would also
inevitably open more debates about the theory of the photograph, particularly while it is
situated in social scientific outputs. It is not in the purview of this chapter to discuss the deeper
theoretical implications of the photograph, and other scholars have and still explore this (and
the practice of image-making) extensively. For example, debates surrounding expressive
versus descriptive photographs (Edwards, 1997), or interrogating Grierson’s often quoted
statement of documentary work being the ‘creative treatment of actuality’ (Grierson, 1933:8 in
Kerrigan and McIntyre, 2010), or how images work as part of an academic argument
(Newbury, 2011). Rather, I conclude the chapter by urging the reader to think about how one
might be able to extend beyond the descriptive, technical approximation of their subject matter,
and how they can use photography and the resulting visual essay that emerges from a
photographic practice to explore aspects of social research that textual descriptions struggle
with, like emotion (Rose, 2012).
Photographers deal with emotive themes very well – in a recent New York Times
article, Chanho Park, a South Korean photographer was featured for his work on Korean
funerary rites (Otis, 2018). It was not so much the structure, process or social significance of
the ritual that his photographs interrogated, but rather the torrent of emotions that spew forth
from his subjects, and the heaviness of the spectacle and context. Done as a way for him to deal
with his own mother’s passing, Park’s work moves significantly away from photographs that
describe, and rather photographs that express, often in abstract terms, the sensorial affects of
the ritual. Like this and related to my own work on spirit mediums in Singapore (Heng, 2014;
Heng and Hui, 2015) is Once Upon a Night (Koh, 2016), an online visual essay of Chinese
21

spirit medium practices in cemeteries. The essay is many things at the same time – descriptive,
narrative but non-linear, abstract and thematic. It documents the ritualistic quotidian lives of
mediums in a particular setting (the cemetery) while at the same time trying to capture the
ethereal quality of their practice, visualised in slow-shutter speed light trails and selective use
of depth-of-field. In such visual essays, photographers like Koh are able to surpass text to
communicate aspects of the social world that we as researchers are trying to investigate.
In this chapter, I explored two ways in which one could sequence and present
photographs created as part of one’s fieldwork. It is important to note that neither of these ways
are mutually exclusive, and indeed could both be achieved at the same time, but can also occur
separately if the researcher so wishes. The challenge then remains for visual researchers to
convince more academic journal editors and publishers in the social sciences to see visual
essays as legitimate scholarly outputs that require the same amount of effort to produce as well
as to consume. With the increasing popularity of online modes of dissemination, as well as
more cost-effective forms of printing (like digital printing), the coming years look promising
for the visual essay.
22

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23

Heng, Terence (2018) ‘Walking Through Spiritual Neighbourhoods: A Photo Essay.’ in S

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25

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Heng T (2019) Creating Visual Essays: Narrative and Thematic Approaches, in Pauwels, L and Mannay, D (eds) The Sage

Creating Visual Essays: Narrative and Thematic

of issues for visual essays and other visually-oriented outputs.

the labour involved is not less, but simply different.

Hungry Ghost Festival.

THE HUNGRY GHOST FESTIVAL, SPIRIT MEDIUMS,

SPIRIT ALTERS and SACRED SPACE IN SINGAPORE

of space in Singapore, it is important to provide some context to the decision-making process

performed during this period for this very purpose).

clothes, toiletries and a special passport to exit the netherworld.

spirit altar, led by a pair of spirit mediums, or tang-ki.

DEVELOPING THE INTRODUCTION

as well-known as for example, American politics or mainstream Christian practices. As such,

(see Heng, 2012).

condensed version of a journal article’s introduction, literature review and methodology

the British Sociological Association’s Visual Sociology Study Group.

LINEAR, CHRONOLOGICAL AND NARRATIVE

and lives of the researcher and the researcher’s informants.

suffice (a common criticism levelled at visual researchers).

Figure 1: A screenshot of a typical PowerPoint slide used in presentations. The

photographs are sequential, descriptive and create a visual narrative to my presentation.

In this way, I am almost able to do two presentations simultaneously

another void deck.

in the post-processing and selection phase. This is an important part of a visual

answer questions related to theoretically-informed fieldwork.

Right, Top to Bottom, as Images 3.1 to 3.12.

cloth flag held by one of their assistants.

in spiritually mapping state-regulated modernity.

THEMATIC VISUAL ESSAYS

Top to Bottom, as Images 4.1 to 4.12.

of loss, remembrance,uncertainty and regret become apparent, culminating in an image of an

empty, precariously surviving living room of a flat in Cressingham Gardens.

used and hierophanised (Eliade, 1961; Holloway, 2003).

transient aesthetic markers (Heng, 2015).

remembered, cherished but textures of loss and longing.

SOME THOUGHTS ABOUT CAPTIONS

photographs throughout much longer segments of autoethnographic text (Richardson, 2017).

alongside photographs or not. To understand the debates surrounding captions, it would be

‘captioning is a culturally specific practice, related to art-labeling and established as a

convention in printed books. In the context of the ideological demands of positivism,

made use of captions in different ways.

(Edwards, 1997) or abstract. Whichever way a photograph works, captions contradictorily

understandings and interpretations to take place.

used photographs gathered from my time as a professional wedding photographer to investigate

descriptions of what was happening, I chose to use poetry as a form of semi-autobiographical

CONCLUSION: WHAT OF THE ABSTRACT AND THE

counterparts in developing a coherent argument, usually around a theoretical framework and

words, they adopt a what-you-see-is-what-you-get style of documentary photography. Perhaps

the practice of image-making) extensively. For example, debates surrounding expressive

versus descriptive photographs (Edwards, 1997), or interrogating Grierson’s often quoted

with, like emotion (Rose, 2012).

as to consume. With the increasing popularity of online modes of dissemination, as well as

for the visual essay.

Becker, Howard S (1995) ‘Visual Sociology, Documentary Photography, and

Edwards, E. (1997) ‘Beyond the Boundary: A Consideration of the Expressive in

Grierson, John (1933) ‘The Documentary Producer.’ Cinema Quarterly 2:7–9.

Harper, Douglas A (2012) Visual Sociology. New York: Routledge.

Heng, Terence (2018) ‘Walking Through Spiritual Neighbourhoods: A Photo Essay.’ in S

Lefebvre, Henri (1996) The Production of Space. Oxford: Blackwell.

Lubeck, Steven G (1990) ‘An Island of Authenticity: Documenting Community Mental

Rose, Gillian (2008). ‘Using Photographs as Illustrations in Human Geography’. Journal of

Rose, Gillian (2012) ‘Visual methodologies : an introduction to the interpretation of visual

Shanaathanan, Thamotharampillai (2015) ‘Commemorating Home: Art as Place Making, an