Abstract: Combing the history of visual anthropology from the screen perspective, we build a tripartite model of version 1.0, version 2.0 and version 3.0. Visual anthropology version 1, the first phase of its academic history, dates back to the 1950s when cinema screens as first electronic audio-visual screens presented visual anthropological works. The second phase of the academic history of visual anthropology, version 2.0, began in the 1970s during which television screens gained gradual popularity and professional teaching and research institutions of visual anthropology boomed as a result. Viewing from the present and looking into the future, we predict that the third phase of the academic history of visual anthropology, the 3.0 version, should be regarded as a time when phone screens are used as the carriers of presentation. Between visual anthropology version 2.0 and 3.0 is a computer-based DV phase, lasting from 1995 to this day. The DV phase can be considered as a threshold period, which connects the past with the future.

Key words: visual anthropology, multimodality, smartphone films