Inviting the Spectral in Photos: A Poststructuralist Engagement With Visual Data in Qualitative Inquiry

Abstract

In this article, we share some poststructuralist ideas for interacting and intra-acting with photos as visual data in qualitative inquiry. The discussion of photos as visual data has mostly drawn from representational perspectives. Furthermore, poststructuralist theorizing has been mostly utilized to discuss discursive data. Drawing from poststructuralist ideas, like Derrida’s discussion of the absent-presence, we offer a poststructuralist glance at photos as spectral visual data. We view such approach as liberating of visual texts and as denotative of the unfinalizability of meaning. To illustrate our point, we engage into a dual mode of narrative, of both words and images, that is photos. Following a brief overview situating the use of photos as data within a representational framework in qualitative research, we illustrate our poststructuralist glance inspired by a Derridean framework. As an epilogue, we share reflections in the form of questions aiming to challenge our narrative in this article.