"Cherchez le Chercheur" No. IV Following last week’s group portrait, this time we offer you a real ‘Cherchez le Chercheur’ picture. Have you spotted the fieldworker in the rear?

The shot was taken by a German photo journalist who covered the ‘HIV/Aids awareness campaign’ promoted by the king of Akyem Abuakwa. The main attention is drawn to the illustrious king (wearing an expensive Kente cloth), two Ghanaian WHO representatives and a biochemist from Potsdam/Germany. All are surrounded by curious palace officials and spectators catching a glimpse of the royal blood test.

After his return to Germany, the journalist published this picture in the SPIEGEL news magazine. The media campaign not only served the king’s ambitions. It is also an ethnographic account; it identifies the researcher in his field while participating in another ‘traditional’ palace activity constructed around a ‘modernist’ issue.

Now, watch the whole scene from the fieldworker’s perspective: the counter-picture includes, of course, the SPIEGEL journalist and the king standing right under the royal umbrella (kyinie).

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