Navigating Boundaries: The Role of the Camera Operator
in Shaping Space During Hatha Yoga Practice
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Submission date: 2024-12-10
Acceptance date: 2025-05-12
Publication date: 2025-09-18
Polish Sociological Review 2025;231(3):311-332
KEYWORDS
ABSTRACT
This article explores the role of the video camera operator during the recording of social events, with
a specific focus on hatha yoga practice. Drawing from phenomenological and sociological theories, particularly
the theory of spacing and synthesis and the concept of “finite provinces of meaning,” the study investigates how the
camera operator navigates the multiple “worlds” of yoga practice. Through self-reflection and visual ethnography,
the article examines the operator’s influence on the construction and perception of space, the emotional and
cognitive challenges encountered, and the ethical considerations of balancing observation with participation. As
a methodological tool, video recording not only captures social interactions but also actively shapes them. For
this project, 822 minutes, or approximately 14 hours, of recordings were made. By analyzing both the technical
and social dimensions of the camera operator’s role, this study offers insights into how technology mediates social
interactions and the construction of space in visual research.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I am grateful to Krzysztof T. Konecki and Dagmara Tarasiuk, close collaborators in the project, for invaluable help during analysis and writing process
FUNDING
Full name of the project: “Experiencing the body and gestures in the social world of hatha yoga. Meanings and transmission of knowledge in bodily practice”(“Doświadczanie ciała i gestów w świecie społecznym hatha-jogi. Znaczenia i transmisja wiedzy w praktyce cielesnej”) OPUS 15 no. 2018/29/B/HS6/00513