A Prehistory of Visual Anthropology: The First Half of the 20th Century

Abstract

Visual anthropology began to form as an independent strain of academic and artistic activity in the 1960s–70s. Prior to that, cinematographic documentaries that registered fragments of actual lives of the peoples were primarily the outcome of the efforts of documentary filmmakers. The article attempts to outline the contributions of various practitioners and theoreticians to the development of the new discipline and novel type of artistic activity that would seek to present the images of cultural communities.