The Factory of Gaze

Abstract

This introduction to the Special Issue explores the landscape of the anthropology of gaze by showing how it is defined as a semiotic activity at the heart of professional expertise. It points out the originality of the papers included in this Special Issue: documenting the socio-material forms of teaching beginners the ability to see through the prism of professions whose “ways of seeing” are tested, questioned, and reshaped in their foundations and boundaries. Some transversal topics are discussed such as the construction of the ability to see, its multisensorial and multimodal dimension, methodologies for exploring the learning and development of professional vision, and finally the technical and technological artifacts supporting it. The aim is to highlight the diversity of fields and approaches which explore the role of visual skills in the production, diffusion, and transformation of the “ways of seeing” characterizing different communities of practice.

A novice inquiry into unique adequacy

“…Observations novice participants also provide perspicuous instances revealing the local order, especially in instructed action (e.g. Evans and Lindwall, 2020; Lynch and Jordan, 1995; Nishizaka, 2014; Pentimalli and Rémery, 2020).…”

Readjusting observational grids in dragonfly field guides

“… 1. This includes studies of observational calibration in the distributed cognition of navigation ( Hutchins, 1995 ), the conceptual devices used in cattle breeding ( Grasseni, 2004 ), the use of highlighting and attention-directing concepts and tools in the creation of professional vision ( Goodwin, 1994 ), or how ways of seeing are constituted in a wide range of knowledge communities ( Pentimalli & Rémery, 2020 ), taking us as far afield as the surface of Mars ( Vertesi, 2012 ) or the digitized human brain ( Beaulieu, 2000 ). This literature on the practice of seeing now combines work from anthropology (e.g.…”

“…This literature on the practice of seeing now combines work from anthropology (e.g. Grasseni, 2007b ; Pentimalli & Rémery, 2020 ), science and technology studies (STS) (e.g. Burri & Dumit, 2008 ; Carusi et al, 2014 )—particularly inspired by ethnomethodology (e.g.…”