Drawing with photography: inhabiting the interstices between expressive forms

Abstract

The present article is aimed at discussing the possibilities of drawing with photography in accordance with the proposals made by my research subject, Evelyn Torrecilla, as part of her experience in Arte Org therapy. As a practitioner of this therapy, Evelyn found a way of making photos by drawing with background lighting, coupling gesture and vision as they happen in her drawing method. This experience allows me to pose some questions to Tim Ingold’s and Michael Taussig’s definitions of drawing and photography, as well as to consider the intersectionality of and contamination between different expressive forms, in line with the thoughts of Suely Kofes, Karina Kushnir, Aina Azevedo, Amanda Ravetz, Anne Grimshaw and Phillippe Dubois, among other authors. Throughout the discussion, I employ different references to demonstrate how ethnographic understandings are more open than cannonic and atemporal definitions to the new emergencies of drawing and photography making.

Keywords:
Drawing; Photography; Visual Anthropology; Perception; Arte Org therapy