Hi there!
My name is Tamar. I’m a visual anthropologist with a heart for the creative and digital arts. From photography to webdesign, videography to copy editing, I’m a jack of all trades and have created this space to showcase my work. Click here to take a look at my portfolio. Or keep scrolling to read more about me.
About me
I was born in the Netherlands and grew up in a small town. Ever since I was strong enough to hold a camera, I’ve loved working with it. I was in charge of taking pictures on all the family vacations. And whenever my father’s huge camcorder was taken out of its bag, I would come running to make videos around the house. I’ve always seen it as a hobby growing up, but every now and again I was able to turn it into work through small projects. Photography at concerts, video editing for online courses, and later also webdesign, graphic design, and copy editing, among others. I have truly enjoyed taking on so many different creative work and continue to do so to this day.
My passion for videography started during my studies in (visual) anthropology. I was drawn to the discipline through my curiosity for human nature and I felt that capturing my research with a camera would enhance my work in a way that text alone would not be able to do, to bring anthropological research to a broader audience. Throughout my bachelor’s I’ve incorporated visual methods in most of my research projects, and I was able to fully immerse myself in ethnographic filmmaking during my master’s program of Visual Anthropology at the University of Amsterdam. My master’s thesis included a short ethnographic documentary on Dutch migrants in Ottawa, Canada and how their heirlooms keep them connected to their heritage. Named Keepsakes: An exploration of material narratives, my documentary is available to watch here.
Besides videography, I also very much enjoy creative writing and essay writing. Some of my work can be found on the website of the Students of Cultural Anthropology journal (here and here), and I have since started a blog called The Fire in her Eyes where I write about feminism, film and female rage, a topic I have been exploring for the past year for a personal project.
For more of an overview of my past work, visit my portfolio.
Tamar Oderwald 