Visual anthropology grad inspires hope

Long-time photographer and artist, Graydon Smith, found inspiration in UVic’s visual anthropology graduate program. He graduates this fall with a master’s degree in anthropology.

“I was first drawn to study anthropology as I was inspired by the field’s possibility for collaborative research, empowering various communities, and promoting alternative ways of understanding the world that can be used to build better futures,” says Smith.

“I love UVic’s approach to anthropology, as it is deeply situated within various ways of knowing that can challenge preconceptions about the world and global systems, while blending themes across the discipline’s four subfields which are often divided,” adds Smith.

Smith’s masters research focused on Cuba, specifically the city of Santiago de Cuba. He worked with young adults who had grown up after the collapse of the Soviet Union in a time of multiple economic crises. He used photography to organize important themes about their experiences during the worst economic crisis following the post-COVID pandemic world. 

“I used photography to discuss various ways of imagining hope and future despite these extreme difficulties,” says Smith.

“I hope that my research has, and will, contribute to emerging research trends that consider hope and the future, which focus on balancing the often-critical focus of most social science publications with the possibilities of creating better futures.”

Smith researched anthropology graduate programs across Canada and spoke to many potential supervisors. He found his perfect match with UVic visual anthropologist, Dr. Alexandrine Boudreault-Fournier who shares his research interests.

“Dr. Alexandrine Boudreault-Fournier is a scholar working with methods seldom seen in the discipline that matched my goals of producing innovative work combining the arts and social sciences,” says Smith.

"I feel that visual anthropology has a great possibility to speak to larger audiences than academia tends to reach, and I hope people can find inspiration, not through my words, but through the moving and beautiful photographs that my research participants and connections have taken, which are, to me, the most important part of my thesis,” adds Smith.

One of Smith’s favourite UVic memories is from an experiential learning opportunity with the Commemorating Ye’Yumnuts project, led by UVic anthropologist, Dr. Brian Thom.

“As a new grad student in an unfamiliar area, I felt welcomed by these experiences and grateful for the opportunity to collaborate producing, soundtracking, and editing a documentary with one other student for use by Quw’utsun Tribes, who has since become a good friend,” says Smith.

Other memorable moments include his time as a teaching assistant during the Cuba Ethnographic Field School in July 2023.

“I loved engaging with undergraduate students from UVic who were passionate about anthropology and learning the value of teaching to produce collaborative and community-engaged projects.”

Smith grew up in Eastern Ontario Canada, outside the rural town of St. Andrew’s West on the traditional territory of the Ahkwesáhshne Kanien’kéha. He shares his heritage is of settler-colonial descent, with his family originating primarily from Scotland and England before arriving in various periods between the 1800s and 1900s.

“I feel lucky to get to learn and make connections studying on the territory of the lək̓ʷəŋən and living on traditional Xwsepsum territory during the last year,” says Smith.

“I frequently try to reflect on my positionality as a white, queer male researcher, and I have tried to make concerted efforts through researching, writing, and disseminating my work to amplify voices in academia which have often been neglected in anthropology and other fields, including engaging with Latin American and Caribbean, intersectional, queer, and other marginalized scholarly communities.”

Smith is now two months into his doctoral studies in anthropology at UVic studying with Cuban professional artists.

“I am hoping to conduct in-depth, extensive research in both Havana and Santiago de Cuba to consider the opportunities available to artists during a constraining time characterized by many material, economic, legal, and political challenges, while focusing on the stories they hope to tell through their work, something understudied in anthropology, “ says Smith. 

Smith believes a career in anthropology can be a path towards creating better futures through new ways of research that build connections and community.