Visual Routes and Digital Lives: Using Visual Ethnography to Explore the Importance of Social Media Amongst Young Bhutanese Refugee Women

Abstract

The interconnectedness of the internet and camera technology presents visual and digital researchers with a series of routes with which to navigate digital life. This research explores a series of still photos taken by four young Bhutanese refugee women, growing up in Palmerston North. What has been most striking are the photos they have taken of themselves, such photos are referred to as ‘selfies’. These selfie photos are taken for purposes of sharing across digital social media networks. Following these routes transformed this research project from a visual ethnography into a visual and digital ethnography. This research highlights the ways in which social media photos provide textual examples of what is meaningful to particular youth cultures.