The article contributes to the history systematization of the visual anthropology area. The author considers and conceptualizes the stages of this discipline formation not only in accordance with the logic of self-understanding of its representatives, but also taking into account the genesis of optical media. The parameters of video production prove not only the instrumental role of visual anthropology in relation to the field of cultural anthropology, but also allow the latter to be a science in the strict sense of the term; that is, to have not only theoretical generalizations but also a rich empirical base. The inability of textual forms of recording anthropological material to adequately capture the cultural practices of traditional communities has also revealed the preserving and even salvage potential of the video production. However, the dominant of writing as a basic practice of science and its definition as a transparent carrier of scientific discourse did not allow to understand, at the initial stages. the innovative potential of visual anthropology, the specifics of its optics and methodology. The article pays attention both to the specifics of the practice of fixing video products (painting, photography, cinema, and the Internet) and to the forms of the representatives reflection of anthropological thought about their influence on the anthropology subject field. In this article, particular attention is paid to the degree of differentiation of cultural anthropology subject fields and visual anthropology against the background of basic transformations of cultural research. The influence of basic theoretical guidelines, in particular the principle of historical rationalism, participation in the formation of visual anthropology area itself, is also defined. In addition to theoretical principles and procedures of description, as well as comprehension of visual products and guidelines of research communities, the methodological significance of other parameters, formed as basic units of visual anthropology, are analyzed: technical parameters of optical media, the order of signifiers of visual representations, communication between video production and the audience. The author presents the disciplinary and historical context of the genesis of visual anthropology, as well as analyzes the conceptual logic of collective work edited by Paul Hockings “Principles of Visual Anthropology,” which is considered a fundamental work for self-awareness of this research area.