Inspiring Female Figures:
Barbara Myerhoff, the anthropologist who represented her own culture
Born in Cleveland Ohio, Barbara Myerhoff was an American anthropologist, filmmaker, and founder of the Center for Visual Anthropology at the University of Southern California.
As an anthropologist, Myerhoff’s most impressionable visual ethnography works mainly with social groups that represent her own identities. Examining the films, Number Our Days (1972) and In Her Own Words (1982), Myerhoff demonstrates different Jewish communities located in Los Angeles, California where she was based out of.
Considering herself a Jewish female anthologist, Myerhoff showed her own concern in terms of studying her culture. She acknowledged that, “most anthropologists work with remote exotic people, so studying my own people was a new idea for me. At first I wasn’t sure if it is anthropology or a personal quest” (Number Our Days).
However Myerhoff’s concern can be disregarded by the academic success she had gained. In 1978 Myerhoff published a book called Number Our Days where she researched the Jewish community further. Each format of delivering the information had its own successes. While the book lacks in visual representation, it made up for it by providing more details and background information in regards to the subjects. The book was able to provide info that the film could not in such a short amount of time, which the film was not able to present these in a timely manner.
Despite the lack of information, the film had succeeded in building up strong emotional attachment with the viewers, grabbing the attention from the viewers in order for them to be more engaged with the subject matter.
In both of Myerhoff’s films, she showed the viewer her familiarity with her subjects, within the two different Jewish communities, and successfully convinced the viewer of her authenticity when it comes to representing them. However, in her film, In Her Own Time she showed an excessive amount of intimacy and information. While Myerhoff’s unfinished work, In Her Own Time, could be seen as too personal, it can also be considered an ethnographic film about her own identity. Myerhoff argued that “the anthropologist is a data collection instrument”(In Her Own Time). Her statement became the perfect representation for the film. which allows viewers to see an unfamiliar culture through the artist’s own perspective.
In spite of the controversy, Myerhoff’s success in representing both social groups is undeniable. Through the buildup of both information and emotional connection, she was able to successfully develop and direct cultural experiences to the viewers through the films. Despite the fact that there is a tendency for the viewers to consider her work as a personal practice rather than ethnographic research, it is her personality and willingness to explore unfamiliarities, including death, that ultimately convinced the viewers of ethnographic representation.