Having an eye for it: aesthetics, ethnography and the senses

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to discuss participant‐led photography as a response to the author's need for an “aesthetic approach” to ethnography during fieldwork, including the importance of an embodied, sensory orientation to ethnography in organizational contexts.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper reviews a range of literature and draws on the author's experiences to support a conceptual argument.

Findings

There is currently scant attention to the sensory dimension of ethnographic practice and the paper puts forward an agenda for future research.

Research limitations/implications

Suggestions are made as to how aesthetic and/or sensory ethnography can support changing landscapes of organizational research.

Originality/value

In drawing together multidisciplinary literature, the paper advances the agenda of ethnographic research in organizational life.

Citation

Warren, S. (2012), "Having an eye for it: aesthetics, ethnography and the senses", Journal of Organizational Ethnography, Vol. 1 No. 1, pp. 107-118. https://doi.org/10.1108/20466741211220705