Researching the photographic representation of popular music using autoethnography as a research approach

This paper presents an example of autoethnography as a research method in photography. I will use my research on photographic representation of popular music to examine the viability of autoethnography as a framework for practice-based research. I focus on the notion of subjectivity, still so contested by proponents of traditional research methods, to show how autoethnography can open up a potential for in-depth political and cultural enquiry that is authentic and ethical. Enquiry via this reflexive method pays due attention to the circumstances of individual cultural production and to its wider cultural, social and affective impacts. I will argue that autoethnography is a valid and effective means of questioning practice and the contexts in which practice exists, thus contributing to knowledge in the cultural field. In this paper, I give practical insights into the process of personal, theoretically-informed writing, exploring how I came to this approach and why.