Drawing in Ethnography: Seeing and Unseeing Everyday Life with Dementia in Sweden

ABSTRACT In this article, I present how drawing offers valuable ethnographic possibilities in care settings where verbal communication is challenging. The empirical examples derive from a study where I drew in situ in dementia care units to explore what residents and staff members found important in their everyday practices. I demonstrate how experimenting with the drawing process as well as the resulting drawings enabled diverse forms of participation to see and unsee matters together with residents and staff members. Treating drawings as steppingstones, meant that inquiries could be shaped together with interlocutors and that questions could be kept open and relevant.

Things seldom look the way we think they do.
For instance, you think you know what your kitchen chair looks like.But if you attempt to draw it, you will most likely realize the extent to which you have not seen it, and the extent to which you do not know it.
When I was 11 years old, I started to take formal drawing classes.It was a small class with children, including teenagers, led by a Czech artist.She taught us to approach drawing as a progressive inquiry.Well, she did not say this explicitly, but she made her point by placing flowers, vases, twigs, and plaster busts in front of us.We would spend weeks, even months studying each item using paper and pencil.Carefully, I came to know drawing as a way of looking, or studying, what was in front of me.This required concentration and that I engaged with what I drew, looking at it again and again.It was an absorbing process.A silent conversation between me, the paper, and the object in front of me where I had to abandon preconceived notions of what I was looking at.In that sense, I came to know drawing as a practice in unseeing, as much as in seeing.To "see and unsee" means letting go of the understandings and expectations you have of the subject you are drawing, creating space for other ways of seeing that subject -repeatedly.And, as I will argue, it is possible to involve others in one's drawing process and invite them into ways of seeing and unseeing.
The arguments I will make in this article pertain to specific situations and concerns in dementia care units.My fieldwork in this setting was focused on how that which is often perceived as mundane (such as drinking coffee, getting dressed, or reading a paper) becomes important in daily life with dementia.In this article I utilize examples from my fieldwork to show how drawing offered multiple ways to attend to situations in my ethnographic fieldwork and how drawing became a form of "generative hanging out" (see the introduction to this special issue).In generative hanging out, research inquiries are created by spending time with interlocutors and by staying open to the research process.
The article is structured in the following way.First, I will provide an overview of methods that researchers have worked with to involve people with dementia in qualitative studies.I will illuminate how drawing has been used in ethnographic fieldwork.After outlining the methods of my study, I will present my arguments about drawing and illustrate these through empirical examples from my fieldwork in dementia care units.I will conclude by discussing the value of drawing as an ethnographic method in dementia care settings.
The aim of my article is to show how the process of drawing and engaging with the resulting drawings together with interlocutors offered meaningful ways to see and unsee what mattered in daily life in dementia care units.Three research questions are interwoven into this aim: (1) How can the process of drawing in situ elucidate what matters in everyday situations?
(2) What do different interlocutors see in the ethnographic drawings of their daily practices?(3) What emotions do the ethnographic drawings generate for the researcher and interlocutors?

Conducting research together with people who live with dementia
To involve people with dementia in research studies is fraught with challenges.Dementia denotes diseases with several symptoms ascribed to deterioration in cognitive functions such as abilities to remember, communicate, and reason (see Daroff 2012).These capacities are central in qualitative studies where researchers frequently make use of interviews, focus groups and questionnaires to let interlocutors illuminate what is important to them.As a result, there are many examples of how scholars have excluded those living with dementia from research (Taylor et al. 2012).Alternatively, there are studies that rely on interviews with family members, assuming that they can articulate what their next of kin wants and needs.Such approaches have been criticized since they ignore the perspectives and feelings of people with dementia, which by extension means that they are excluded from shaping knowledge pertaining to them and their lives.Also, to only rely on verbal articulation inadvertently cements the idea that expressing one's experiences and cares hinges on the ability to talk and reason.Kitwood and Bredin (1992) have disputed this, arguing that who somebody is, is not merely about an individual's cognitive functions, but a collective concern.Along these lines, psychologist Lars-Christer Hydén and anthropologist Eleanor Antelius (2017) contend that it is crucial to develop responsive ways for participation that accommodate what is relevant to people with dementia.The challenges of conducting research in the context of dementia can be seen as an incentive for researchers to work more creatively and to cultivate ideas of what can be "done" in face of dementia and how dementia care can foster good moments as the disease progresses.In addition, this advances the notion of what knowledge is, and how it is created.

Attending to non-verbal interlocutors
In terms of attending to other expressions than verbal articulations, ethnographic techniques offer opportunities.For instance, Christina Buse and Twigg (2015) combine observations, situated interviews and video recording to inquire about the importance of dress in life with dementia.By doing so they analyze how memories are materialized in clothing and how identities are embodied.Combining different research methods in ethnographic fieldwork makes it possible to attend to what people do as well as to what they say.Another researcher who has developed ways of studying dementia is Hydén (2014).By videotaping daily activities, he shows that sequencing tasks in smaller sections enables people with dementia to collaborate when preparing a meal.His analysis brings forward what people can do together with others rather than simply focusing on individual abilities and failings.In their scoping review of innovative qualitative methods in dementia research, Phillipson and Hammond (2018) describe how scholars work in a variety of ways to engage and involve people with dementia.This includes ethnographic approaches as well as action research, producing narratives, participatory filmmaking, and theater.The most common method is photovoice where participants take their own photos or use existing photos to, for example, explore meanings of everyday activities or identify problematic situations in daily life.
Among scholars working with other visual methods is Jeong (2020), who proposes a cartographic ethnography where lines are drawn to map movements of people.Jeong argues that this is a productive approach to understanding repetitive bodily practices in dementia care contexts.Together these scholars show how hanging out with people with dementia while cooking, designing, or taking photos supports knowledge that is created in inclusive ways.The aim for all of them is to open new ways of living and caring for dementia.
Adding to this effort, I will show how drawing can be used as an ethnographic method to study everyday life with dementia together with interlocutors.

Drawing and ethnography
Ethnographic drawing has a long history.The relation between drawing and ethnography has changed over time, in line with how approaches to knowledge and science have shifted (Geismar 2014).For instance, early ethnographic drawings were based on the illustrations in eighteenth century Encyclopedias where specimens were drawn in detail on a white background, clarifying written information (Kuschnir 2016).This signifies how science was aiming to be objective as well as educational.
In contrast, 1950's drawing in ethnographic fieldwork focused on describing cultures, evincing that the researcher "had been there" (Kuschnir 2016).These drawings often showed how specific tools and decorations differed from the culture of the ethnographer.
In the latter half of the twentieth century, drawing was overlooked as ethnography primarily relied on written accounts and analysis (Afonso 2004).In the last 25 years this has begun to change. 1 This development has been gradual and not always received well.Anthropologist and avid drawer Taussig (2009) recounts how the copy editor of one his books commented that they failed to see how his drawings contributed to anything in his writing.A few years later another copy editor at the same publishing house was immensely eager to include his drawings in his books.
Today, scholars engage more confidently with drawing as part of their ethnographic fieldwork and subsequent articles, illustrating how drawing affords various ways of seeing, studying, and knowing (see e.g.Azevedo and João Ramos 2016;Brice 2018;Causey 2017;Heath et al. 2018;Kuschnir 2016;Midgley 2010;Taussig 2009).I find the work of scholar Brice (2018) particularly relevant.Brice draws sequentially, gradually attuning to a setting to open dialogs with what she studies.She draws in situ and suggests that drawing offers ways to learn and unlearn things.Brice's drawings are not mere illustrations of what she writes, but they are purposefully and carefully placed in dialogue with the text, to avoid pitting the visual against the verbal.As the art historian William John Thomas Mitchell (1994) writes, there are no "pure" visual and verbal media.Images and texts are intertwined, and their relation is never settled.The point, Mitchell argues, is to consider the function of specific forms of heterogeneity between image and text.This I will also demonstrate in the presentation of my findings.I entwine my drawings with fieldnotes as well as verbal and nonverbal interactions with staff members and residents.
Drawing in situ in ethnographic fieldwork bears similarities with croquis drawing.This drawing technique is often used as an exercise in art schools.In croquis drawing you have a model in front of you that you must draw in a short period of time.The artist Melin (1979) writes that croquis is not about being able to draw quick, or having a quick hand, as much as it is about quick perception: being able to see the main activity and what is characteristic and central.In ethnographic fieldwork, however, it is not immediately obvious what the main activity is.The artist, writer, and art critic Berger (1972) argues that seeing is a choice since we only see what we look at, suggesting that the artist can determine what to look at and what to ignore.However, he also underlines that the impulse to paint (or in my case, draw) is not sparked by observation but by an encounter.There is a collaboration between the person who draws and the one being drawn (Berger 2003). 2 Accordingly, being portrayed is not a passive activity but it is a joint endeavor.The one being drawn lets themselves be seen and are hence engaging in a relationship.In relation to conducting fieldwork in dementia care units I see this collaborative moment as an opportunity work together with people living with dementia without necessarily using words.
Another important assertion from Berger (2005:3) is that: "A line, an area of tone, is not really important because it records what you have seen, but because of what it will lead you to see."That is, when drawing, you must look carefully.Through this looking, your way of seeing what is in front of you develops.Along these lines, it becomes possible to approach drawing as a gradual process of knowing, seeing, and discovering.A pencil stroke is inevitably linked to subsequent pencil strokes.In my study, I took this as an encouragement to also investigate what the ensuing drawings would lead me to see.The design critic Dilnot ( 2004) argues that a depiction that diverges from how we usually see something, has the potential to change our relation to that which is portrayed.This means that repeating an established image of people living with dementia, confines them to their cemented roles.In contrast, if a drawing presents a different way of seeing, there is recovery and development, allowing both those depicted and viewers to move beyond prevailing assumptions.I see this as an invitation to not only focus on the drawing process, but also on how the drawings are shown and engaged with together with those living and working in dementia care units.

Methods
The empirical examples in this article derive from an ethnographic study conducted in three dementia care units in a nursing home in Sweden as part of my doctoral research. 3To explore daily life in the dementia care units I drew in situ whilst hanging out with those who lived, worked, and visited the units.I was able to study what mattered to residents and staff members and how situations and issues were tended to in practice.The idea to draw was motivated in several ways.In a previous study (Cleeve et al. 2020) I had used abstract illustrations to initiate reflections on care practice in individual interviews with nursing assistants.Taking this one step further, I conducted a preparatory study where I drew in situ in a palliative care setting.Based on these experiences, and on the accounts of other researchers who draw, I speculated that drawing would lend itself well to a dementia care setting where direct questions and verbal communication would be challenging.

Drawing in the units
My observations took place between September 2017 and November 2017, and between October 2018 and February 2019.I visited the nursing home once or twice a week.My visits lasted for about three hours and afterward I wrote notes in relation to each drawing.Eight to nine residents lived in each unit but not all residents participated in the study.Some residents would participate one day, but not the next and I was careful to treat consent and participation as something that had to be assessed continuously.This was important in relation to persons living with more advanced dementia.Rather than categorically excluding those who were not able to easily articulate themselves verbally, I paid attention to body gestures and to facial expressions as well as to what they said.
In my first drawings, I drew people from afar, often turned away from me.I drew simple outlines of hands and bodies, trying to make the drawings unintrusive.I also kept my distance from residents' rooms.In my later drawings, staff members and residents participated much more in my drawing activities.I could move closer, I was invited into rooms, and my drawings became more intimate. 4 Workshops with staff members I did not act as if my drawings were finished notes that I alone would analyze and draw insights from, but I appreciated them as fragmentary steppingstones toward learning more, so in addition to the participant observations, I arranged workshops with a nurse, care assistants and nursing assistants.In the workshops, I showed drawings, one at a time, without fieldnotes.About six drawings were shown in each workshop.I learned that the interpretations of the drawings worked as prompts for discussions.Drawing on Timmermans and Tavory (2012:171) who argue that "surprising findings call for an explanation" I selected drawings referring to what I had seen but not understood or wanted to know more about.A total of 13 staff members participated in four workshops.Two workshops were arranged in the fall of 2017 and two in the spring of 2019.Each workshop lasted for about two hours.Six to seven staff members participated in each workshop, with several staff members participating in two or three sessions.All workshops were audio recorded.

Analysis
On each visit to the nursing home, I made about 40-50 drawings.I drew quickly which shaped how I saw situations and constituted a form of analysis.After each visit I wrote notes about each drawing.When my fieldwork was completed, I reviewed and analyzed the visuals anew together with the written fieldnotes and audio recordings from the workshops.I used the typesetting software InDesign to structure my data, placing drawings with their accompanying fieldnotes and ordering the material chronologically.Transcripts from workshops were also placed next to corresponding drawings.As the analysis progressed, I arranged the visuals and texts in various ways, sorting them into groups to shape patterns and inquiries.Inspired by Hammersley and Atkinson (2007) I thought with and through my data.For this article, I repeatedly sorted and analyzed data that exemplified how my drawing process and the process of engaging with the drawings evolved continuously.

Drawing what matters
My fieldwork in the dementia care units was focused on how things came to matter in everyday life and became significant in situations and activities that repeatedly occurred.Yet, in the beginning, everything seemed mundane and unimportant.I was frustrated and overwhelmed by the disheartening feeling of monotony.The slow pace of drawing meant that I was gradually able to shake off the notion that "nothing" happened.The drawings in Figure 1a,b (made consecutively in one afternoon) demonstrate this.The hurried way in which the drawings were made reveals how several things -regardless of how seemingly small and insignificant -happened simultaneously.I had to decide what to look at.In the first drawing and fieldnote, I focus Stina and Nora's bibs. 5At lunch, the bibs had protected their clothing, but now, in the afternoon, I saw them as a form of carelessness.The first drawing in Figure 1a shows how Nora's bib has started to fall off.Nora's bored expression is underlined by how she peers at Stina.My train of thought is disrupted as she calls out to me.Nora looks at me as someone who could (and should) help them.Nora made me aware of something that I merely saw as tools: my pencil and paper.Through Nora's comments, these things came to the fore as important -they became visible, as evidenced in the drawing where Nora uses my pen and paper to write (Figure 1b).
The drawings in Figure 1a,b show a progression.In the first drawing in Figure 1a Nora and Stina are portrayed as passive.By comparison, the latter drawings portray Nora writing, Stina reaching out to hold Nora's hand, and Stina lifting her coffee cup.The drawings demonstrate their active dispositions and resourcefulness.While these moments passed quickly, Nora and Stina's gestures changed my perception of them.I would not have been able to see this from afar, demonstrating how my analysis relied on how I was welcomed to see things.In addition, I would not have perceived this if I had not been drawing.Through drawing, I was able to see what and how they enacted something as important.This was a largely silent, yet crucial, form of participation which shaped my inquiries.
There is a great contrast in the nursing home between residents and staff.The residents were often bored and invited me to sit down with them.Staff were busy: clearing tables, handing out medications, or helping residents with things such as getting dressed or going to the bathroom.As I hung out with the residents, I perceived gestures from residents that staff members did not see.When the staff members asked Stina if she wanted coffee, she said no (Figure 1b).They did not notice Stina lifting her cup, tasting what she thought was coffee while repeatedly asking for coffee.With increasing demands for efficiency in care, there is a growing tendency to talk about activities such as breakfast as an instrumental "task" to be executed.Inadvertently, this obscures the skill and knowledge necessary to do this together with the residents and using this work to pick up nonverbal cues.Since there is often little time for hurried staff members to pay attention to those subtle gestures, nonverbal expressions of agency are easily overlooked.I continuously learned and unlearned the significance of things.While I saw the bib as significant, Nora looked at me and found my drawing materials to be interesting.Meanwhile, staff members were too hurried to see how Stina used her cup to signify that she wanted coffee.Shifting my focus shaped some things as more important than others.
While participant observation always relies on the researcher's positionality, drawing makes it possible to see shifts in positions and in this case focus.In addition, it is possible to see the incompleteness of drawn fieldnotes.That is, while my written fieldnotes were composed of full sentences, my drawings consisted of fragmentary and sometimes even unclear lines.The hasty depictions revealed how my drawing was too slow to attend to everything I saw.They became valuable reminders that there was always more to the situation than what I had seen and drawn.

Recognizing meaningful specificities in drawings
The way in which my drawing resulted in fragmentary depictions was not necessarily a drawback.On the contrary, it created opportunities to open the observations to further scrutiny -inviting interlocutors to inquire, critique, contest and add to what I had seen.This was not only possible because of the drawings' ambiguity, but also because the drawings and the fieldnotes were not made at the same time and therefore provided separate commentaries on situations.By showing the drawings without fieldnotes I could ask others to articulate and show what they saw in a drawing.The examples in Figure 2a,b illustrates this.The discussion originates from one of the workshops I arranged with staff members who worked in the nursing home.In her first comment, the care assistant Agneta points out that it is a nurse doing something, possibly dressing a wound (Figure 2a).The other staff members add to Agneta's comment and gradually they try to make sense of what they see.The staff members treat the drawing as a trace of something that might have happened in a certain way.I have previously written about the ambiguity of the drawings from the nursing home, and the ensuing possibility to clarify -to disambiguate -them (Cleeve et al. 2023).Here I emphasize how the staff members recognized specific characteristics in these ambiguous drawings.That is, those familiar with the nursing home understood that the openness of the drawings was a very particular form of openness.As I will outline, this makes it possible to elucidate what constitutes good care in a particular situation.
It is clear from the staff members conversation that they can see "more" in this drawing than say, a nurse from a different nursing home.The artist Melin (1973) writes that when we stand in front of a picture, we usually ask ourselves what is depicted.Indeed, this is what the staff members initially ask themselves.They recognize that it is a nurse dressing a wound and they go on to identify the nurse as Ida and the residents as Bo and Stina and that this takes place in the living room or kitchen.However, the more interesting question, Melin argues, is to ask how something is depicted and what that does to the viewer.The staff members do this as they ask themselves how they would act, how they would feel if they were Stina (who cannot see very well) getting her wounds dressed in the kitchen by Ida.They engage with the drawing, stretch themselves and empathize with what they see.Their discussion does not evolve on an abstract level but interferes with how Stina's wounds are dressed, and how she is cared for, in their unit.Britt, the nurse who took part in the workshop, had the impression that she and Ida (the nurse in the drawing) dressed wounds in a similar way, in private rooms.The drawing and discussion with the other staff members suggest the opposite.Hence, the point of discussing a drawing with staff members is not for them to correctly identify and confirm information from my fieldnotes, but rather to explicate how they make sense of what I have seen by making new connections to their own practices, opening, and discussing them.Agneta's last comment underlines the urgency of this as these discussions were not a regular part of their work.She did not always feel comfortable (or had the time) to get involved in how her colleagues acted, even if she did not agree with them.
In addition to staff recognizing a specific situation pertaining to care practices, residents would at times also note meaningful specificities in drawings.Most often this happened when residents asked me to draw them.The drawing in Figure 3 shows Bertil, who welcomed me to make a portrait of him.The most prominent features in the drawing are Bertil's eyes and his ears.The shape of his head, the nose and mouth are sketched out more gently.When I showed Bertil the drawing, he immediately recognized himself and he particularly appreciated how I had drawn the zipper on his sweater.This is surprising as the zipper is only outlined with three lines and one of the least visible things in the drawing.That Bertil saw it suggests that he was attentive of his attire and cared about his clothing.Here, Bertil challenged the common notion that people living with dementia lose their sense of self and their awareness of their surroundings.The example shows how drawing offers a way to explicate such awareness.
In addition, drawing offered ways for interlocutors to challenge how I drew them.Figure 4 shows my depictions of Nora who repeatedly asked me to portray her one afternoon.There is a progression in the portraits of Nora.First, she looks bored, hunching forward.In the second drawing, she participates more: there is a connection between us, and she looks at me with a faint smile.The third drawing is more intense, as Nora leans toward me.In the last drawing, which Nora liked the best, her posture is more relaxed, and her expression is calmer.Nora's repeated requests to be portrayed and her various reactions highlight how drawing constituted a sort of dialogue between me, Nora, my pencil, and paper.Nora underlined that how I saw her was not how she saw herself.Still, even if Nora was not quite pleased with any of the resulting portraits, they served to establish a relation and after making the second drawing, Nora welcomed me to see her room and her cherished embroideries, photographs, and crossword puzzles.In the examples with Björn as well as Nora, the drawing process became a vehicle for learning more about them and what mattered to them.
Upon completing my fieldwork in the nursing home, I brought copies of drawings to show the residents to say goodbye and present my work.Some of the drawings I brought were made as portraits, requested by the residents.Other drawings were not intended as portraits per se, but depicted residents doing various things such as reading, watching TV, or writing.I showed Anna several drawings I had made of her.She was most fond of a drawing (Figure 5) where she covers her face with her hand, while looking down on the paper in front of her.Instead of selecting a drawing showing her features, Anna associated herself with an activity, namely solving crossword puzzles.She often solved crossword puzzles and she would always be seated in the same spot: at the table by the window in the living room.I have written about "Anna's spot" before and how her place by the window was eventually dismantled when the living room and kitchen were rearranged (Cleeve 2020;Cleeve et al. 2023).In previous articles I have argued that Anna showed how her spot mattered to her, even if she did not express this in words.The importance of her spot by the window where she solved crossword puzzles is stressed even further when we acknowledge that this activity was deeply intertwined with how Anna saw herself, choosing from the drawings.The discussion in Figure 2a,b show how staff members were able to recognize Stina and Bo.In the examples with Björn, Nora, and Anna the interesting question is not whether others recognize them, but what makes them recognize themselves.
Through drawing over an extended period, I picked up on various practices and tensions.By selecting drawings that related to these things and showing them to my interlocutors I was able to inquire further.Such inquiries also happened more randomly when showing drawings that I was ambivalent about.In these ways I learned about different ways that residents saw themselves, whether this hinged on how they dressed or how they were immersed in a practice.Comparably, viewing drawings with staff enabled unconventional discussions about everyday practices.The examples show how inviting interlocutors to engage with the drawings produced insights about meaningful aspects pertaining to living and working in the units which elicited new ways of seeing what I had seen.

Being moved by drawings
The drawing in Figure 6 was made at the beginning of my fieldwork.It depicts a woman who visited the nursing home to play the piano and sing together with the residents.To the right, a person is outlined.I made the drawing instinctively: there was such a stark contrast between the music and the sound of someone blowing their nose.The drawing was made hastily as the moment passed quickly.
My fieldnotes accompanying the drawings from the piano concert do not disclose the identity of the woman playing the piano or the person in the background.While I often returned to previous drawings during my fieldwork, I had merely glanced at this drawing because it seemed rather insignificant.Yet, as I looked at it long after it was made, I stopped.I suddenly recognized the person sitting behind the pianist.Sigrid.It is not a detailed drawing, but I can tell from the shape of her head, the posture, and her striped sweater, which in the drawing is indicated by the series of pencil strokes on her arm.Berger (2005) argues that when you draw, one pencil stroke leads to the next pencil stroke.In my study, this was also true in relation to completed drawings.That is, when I in retrospect looked at the drawing of Sigrid it led me to revisit subsequent drawings that I had made of her.
Sigrid had died between the first and second part of my fieldwork.Looking at my drawings now, after her death, reminds me that dementia care units are places where people spend their last weeks, months, or years.This underlines the urgency of attending to the conditions of these settings.
Sigrid was strong-willed and some of the staff members labeled her "difficult."She had an odd habit: she often wanted to go outside to buy glue at the grocery store.When looking at the drawing from the concert I can see the last drawing of Sigrid before my eyes.In that drawing, she bows her head in disappointment after being told by the staff that they do not have time to accompany her to the store.She is standing by the door, wearing her jacket, and holding her wallet.The drawing from the concert has become evocative, and I am not only moved by it in an emotional sense, but my focus moves too.Instead of looking at the woman playing the piano, I see Sigrid.Or rather, I see beyond the drawing.I see Sigrid's disposition, the way she dressed, and her wish to leave the nursing home and go to the store.
When I drew Greta with her husband (Figure 7), my main concern had been Greta's glasses and how they were labeled with a piece of tape with her name on them (Cleeve 2020).However, as Britt and the staff members looked at the drawing when I showed it to them in one of the workshops, they saw something entirely different.That is, while Britt and the other staff members instantly recognized Greta and her husband in the drawing, the glasses, or their labeling, were not even mentioned.Instead, they focused on the relation between Greta and her husband.The drawing shows Greta staring, her lips slightly parted.Her husband has his hand on her shoulder.He looks at her calmly.The shape of his eyebrow makes him look a little sad.The staff members' immediate reaction is emotional and conveys a sense of pleasure and relief.Britt bursts out "Ah, that's sweet . . .! Yes. ..!". Agneta sighs and relaxes her shoulders to illustrate how she felt when Greta's husband came to visit.When he visited, Greta would calm down and instead of walking around the unit, picking up various items, she would rest, which meant others in the dementia care units could also rest.As the staff members discuss the scene, they even place Greta and her husband on the unit's couch, which is not outlined in the drawing.Britt and Agneta have no doubts about what they see in the drawing, and they try to explain how the situation mattered to them.For the most part, emotional responses were intertwined with what it felt like to live, work and care in the nursing home.Moreover, care work was not only done by staff members, but also by family members.That is, Greta's husband's visits were not only important to Greta, but his presence had great impact on residents as well as staff members.Together the examples involving Sigrid and Greta demonstrate how drawings could evoke emotions as they were engaged with in retrospect.When this happened, it became possible to elucidate invisible matters such as frictions or atmospheres and their profound effects on residents, staff, family members.Such instances affected me as a researcher, developed my analysis and moved me in new directions.

Conclusion: possibilities of drawing in dementia research
To better understand and improve daily life with dementia, research methods must allow for people with dementia to express what is relevant to them.Ethnography offers possibilities as researchers can attend to what is said as well as that which is expressed through gestures and practices.Extending this, an increasing number of scholars contend that drawing offers valuable modes of ethnographic fieldwork as drawing practices can constitute careful attunement: you look again and again and must let go of preconceived notions (see e.g.Brice 2018;Causey 2017, Heath et al., 2018;Taussig 2009).In line with this, I have shown how drawing, or rather, experimenting with drawing allowed for rich understandings of what was significant and meaningful in daily life in dementia care units.
I have presented drawing as a way of seeing and knowing a dementia care setting.In this study my seeing and knowing was conditioned by drawing in situ while hanging out with residents and staff members in dementia care units.My interlocutors invited me to see certain situations and they showed me what mattered in different ways.I have argued that this constituted a form of silent participation, or collaboration that steered the research focus, inquiries, and insights in multiple directions.The ensuing drawings demonstrate how I situated myself in relation to residents and staff members.When viewing these drawings, it is possible to see how the focus and inquiries developed and shifted.That is, the drawings clearly display their partiality and how I learned to see situations anew.However, rather than settling for how the drawing process made it possible to see different things that mattered in a situation, I treated the resulting drawings as fragmentary and I placed them in new situations, letting others reflect, contest, and add to what I had drawn.This effectively created alternative ways of seeing what I had seen.
As mentioned earlier in this article, the design critic Dilnot (2004) argues that if a picture shows us something in an unconventional way it can lead us in new directions.Such images allow those portrayed to break away from established beliefs about them.It lets others see them anew.This can be contrasted with images that simply repeat typologies of how we already know about something.These depictions lead nowhere.When the staff members looked at a drawing of their colleague Ida dressing the resident Stina's wound, they were confronted with a depiction that diverged from an ideal of what care ought to look like.It led to a discussion concerning what it was like to care for Stina in that situation, and what it could be like.Similarly, when I showed the resident Anna my portrait of her, I learned about how solving crossword puzzles at the table by the window was not only about maintaining a leisure activity.It mattered for how Anna saw herself.Through portraying residents, I also learned that my way of seeing them did not necessarily correspond to how they saw themselves.Thus, the encounters that happened through these drawings continuously allowed for seeing and unseeing how things came to matter.Through revisiting drawn fieldnotes together with others, my ethnographic observations were transformed into engaged, experimental, and joint endeavors.In dementia care units, residents often have difficulties to articulate their wants and needs, and staff members have little time to talk about everyday aspects of their care practices.Hence, what residents and staff members find important and how they feel about their daily life and work is frequently overlooked.Viewing drawings together created valuable space to see ways of caring and living in the dementia care units anew.
In conclusion, drawing in the dementia care units became a method for keeping questions open, allowing inquiries to be shaped together with interlocutors in ways that were relevant to them.Notes 1.A reviewer of an earlier draft suggested I engage with Alfred Gell's (1998) work on art and agency in anthropology.
I chose not to because Gell focuses on completed artworks that members within a community make themselves.In contrast, I show how the drawing process was a way to attune to what mattered in situations together with interlocutors.2. The artist Peter Paul Ruben's made several paintings of his wife Hélène Fourment.Berger (2003) argues that you can see when Fourment collaborated, and when she did not.3. The study was approved by the Regional Ethical Review Board in Stockholm, Sweden (#2015/512-531/5, addendum 2017/1735-32).4. It is difficult to establish a definitive line between participants and non-participants since situations were affected by both groups.This presents an ethical challenge because people who declined to participate could not be completely excluded.5.I use pseudonyms when referring to individuals and places.While those who are already familiar with the nursing home might be able to identify people and situation from my rather abstract drawings, the pseudonyms are used to prevent a wider audience from determining the identity of interlocutors and settings.