Using photographs in interpreting cultural and symbolic meaning: A reflection on photographs of the Korean Association for Government Accounting

•Photographs taken by a professional association are useful research objects.Fig. 12002 inaugural conference.(Source: http://www.kaga21.or.kr/, ©KAGA. Used with permission. Accessed on February 11, 2014)Fig. 22011 spring conference (outside).(Source: http://www.kaga21.or.kr/, ©KAGA. Used with permission. Accessed on September 1, 2014)Fig. 32011 spring conference venue (inside).(Source: http://www.kaga21.or.kr/, ©KAGA. Used with permission. Accessed on September 1, 2014)Fig. 42006 summer conference.(Source: http://www.kaga21.or.kr/, ©KAGA. Used with permission. Accessed on September 1, 2014)Fig. 52011 international conference (stage).(Source: http://www.kaga21.or.kr/, ©KAGA. Used with permission. Accessed on June 17, 2017)Fig. 62011 international conference (audience).(Source: http://www.kaga21.or.kr/, ©KAGA. Used with permission. Accessed on June 17, 2017)Fig. 72011 autumn conference.(Source: http://www.kaga21.or.kr/, ©KAGA. Used with permission. Accessed on June 17, 2017)Fig. 82012 joint conference.(Source: http://www.kaga21.or.kr/, ©KAGA. Used with permission. Accessed on June 17, 2017)•Physical artefacts can be considered objectified forms of capital that accounting actors use.•Banners are useful tools of triangulation when checked against written documents.•Arrangement of a national flag can enhance the significance of accounting events.•Deployment of flowers constructs and represents social connections and networks among accounting actors.Building on a sociological tradition of using photographs as a methodology, we suggest that accounting researchers more fully utilize photographs to understand accounting actors’ everyday lives. While most accounting studies have focused on the photographic imagery in published documents, such as corporate annual reports, a few authors found photographs can highlight how physical artefacts can deliver symbolic messages. We explored photographs drawn from the Korean Association for Government Accounting (KAGA) to illustrate how social actors used physical artefacts. To guide our analysis, we relied on Bourdieu’s theorization of how physical artefacts reflect forms of capital. We argue that the use of photographs as a methodology provides a deeper insight into the cultural and social meanings of physical artefacts as a form of language open to multiple interpretations by both the author and the reader.