Greetings.
Welcome to my website, I hope you enjoy the work.
I am a Visual Anthropologist and a Maker of Things, working primarily in writing, photography, and filmmaking, exploring narratives of belonging and other themes.
By day I am Professor of Cultural Interdisciplinary Practice at the University of the West of England, Bristol, teaching photography, filmmaking, Research Methods, MRes and PhD. I am the co-lead of Post Graduate Research for the UWE School of Arts with Dr Judith Aston.
My research interests are primarily explored through the themes of hidden histories, unheard stories, everyday life and material culture. As a researcher my work has spanned a wide range of topics, including; community media, creative education, trans-Atlantic slave trade, disability & walking, religion, Rastafari, Ethiopian and Caribbean cultures, and photography & generative AI.
My recent book, ‘Black Everyday Lives, Material Culture & Narrative: Tings in de House‘, was published by Routledge in 2023.
I have chapters and articles published in peer reviewed journals and books, and have spoken and exhibited at a wide range of conferences and events, nationally and internationally.
Co-founded Firstborn Creatives production company in 1999 with Rob Mitchell, and made programmes for BBC 1, ITV West and Channel 4.
I position my work in primarily within the discourses of Anthropology, and, as you can see from the title of this site, am building my work within the notion of Small Anthropology, if not in how the work was initially made, then still in how the work is discussed.
To read my short essay Why Anthropology, and what is Small Anthropology?, please click here for a pdf download.
To read more about my work please visit my work profile here – link.
If you’d like to contact me my details are;
Email – shawn.sobers @ uwe.ac.uk
Instagram – @dr_shawn_hailemariam_sobers
All the best,
Professor, Dr Shawn Hailemariam Sobers
(aka Shawn Naphtali Sobers)