ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we explore the utility of photo-elicitation as a visual research method when applied to military topics. As this section of this volume illustrates, there are a number of visual research methods of utility for military research. Here, we focus on photo-elicitation to argue for its utility for researchers interested in military identities and subjectivities. Photo-elicitation uses photographic images in interview situations to explore life-worlds and experiences, including places and landscapes. It has proven utility across the social sciences as both a powerful means by which life-worlds and phenomena can be understood in the present, and also as a method for exploring the construction of memories and interpretations of past events with reference to photographic records. Its utility in military research contexts derives from the inherent capacity of the method itself, but also because of the specificities of military social life and culture which, as we go on to explain, make the exploration of certain military phenomena amenable to exploration using this method. In this chapter we draw out some of those mutually reinforcing factors to discuss how and why the photo-elicitation method becomes valuable when developing a research methodology for studying military phenomena.
