Peripheries and borders: Pushing the boundaries of visual research

In my last paper for Inscape, ‘Ways in Which Photographic and Other Images are Used in Research: An Introductory Overview’ (July, 2012), I summarised the ways in which the arts are being used by social scientists. In this paper I look at less mainstream developments which are nevertheless of interest. In particular, I outline Iain Edgar's idea of ‘imagework’, which is the use of creative visualisation within research processes (although much of what he does is rather akin to some forms of art therapy). Probably less well documented and explored is the interesting borderline between social science research and personal therapy represented by both social art therapy and phototherapy, both of which will be explored in further detail. This paper is then contextualised with reference to other recent papers discussing the potential contribution of art therapy to social science, psychological and ethnographic research projects