Daniel Miller The Comfort Of Things

In The Comfort of Things, Daniel Miller (2005) compiled thirty case studies derived from ethnographic observation of a pseudo-random street in South London. Each chapter takes the form of a vignette, called a ‘portrait’ (Miller, 2005, p.5), that tells the story of a different person living on the street. Despite each portrait telling a discrete narrative, the text as a whole emphasizes the significance of material culture in conducting ethnography. During the study, Miller (2005) and his research partner “… put our questions to the interior of the house” (p.2), examining the history and meaning of the items with which their subjects surrounded themselves. Miller’s work throws into sharp relief the importance of objects in people’s lives, even
Marina’s case study is particularly relevant here, as she specifically equates collecting McDonalds’ toys with spending time with her children. Playing with the toys also brings her children into harmonious contact with one another, if only for a short time. A common bond over objects forms the basis for the closeness Marina lacked between herself and her parents. Likewise, George’s lack of objects follows closely his lack of relationships; his photographs are torn from atlases, rather than of personal acquaintances. Photographs are particularly social in reinforcing or establishing relationships due to what Elizabeth Edwards (2006) terms “...the fusion and performative interaction of image and materiality” (27). Edwards, although working from a historical background, studied the ways in which Australian Aboriginals interacted with photographs. At a surface level, the photographs she circulated amongst those she studied were the result of social relationships. Somebody, at some point in time, had a relationship with the photographed subject that allowed them to take the picture. Whether this is a familiar relationship or one based on an unequal power dynamic, photographs exist because two or more people knew one another. Moving past the surface, photographs can extend relationships throughout time. As one of Edwards’(2006) informants commented, “I have never seen my ancestor, but I would like to see them in the photo… and say ‘Ah yeah, this is my grandfather’” (pp.32-3). Photographs create relationships between those in the past and those observing them in the present, extending personhood beyond the self in a way that gave Australian Aboriginals a sense of the future. Furthermore, people physically interacted with each other while viewing photographs. Edwards (2005) notes that some women to whom she showed the photographs