Jacknis/Ginsburg on Margaret Mead & Gregory Bateson

Margaret Mead and Gregory Bateson in Bali: Their Use of Photography and Film – By Ira Jacknis

Faye Ginsburg
“Now Watch this very carefully…”
The Ironies and afterlife of Margaret Mead’s visual Anthropology - By Fay Ginsburg

Both the Ira Jacknis and Faye Ginsburg articles focus on the Anthropology of Margaret Mead and Gregory Bateson. Ginsburg emphasizes how ethnographic films thanks in large part to Margaret Mead who was responsible for preserving indigenous cultural in a way that we all can experience. Mead understood that things were changing and that with the new age of film making the way Anthropologist documented and did research also needed to change. She saw film as a way to reach a larger audience and to expose more people to other cultures.

Jacknis focused more on the process that Mead and Bateson used to research and document there journey. From why Bali was chosen and how they received funding to how many hours of film was used. It was interesting how Mead and Bateson had different perspective on how to do field study. Bateson was “just enough observation to supply a basis for his logical and theoretical interest.”(Jacknis, 161) and Mead “had a passion for specific detail and intricate pattern.” Mead wanted to document every second spent in Bali. One statement that stayed with me is “Those who know what they are looking for usually find it” (p. 173) Did Mead know what she was looking for and at what point of her stay in Bali was it realized? I think that Mead was meticulous in documenting and knew that her notes, her film footage and photos would speak for themselves. However,how much does our perceptions and preconceptions factor in the finished product?