In recent years, various elaborate visual methods have been introduced for carrying out empirically controlled sociological studies. However, in contrast to other sociological sub-fields, research on protest events or social movements rarely employs visual analytic procedures. In this article, a research sample of visual protest material is taken to show how applied visual methods can increase the outcome of protest or social movement research. This study highlights how visual analysis provides extra information for supporting or rejecting interpretations, thus demonstrating that visual methods are an important tool in the triangulation of empirical methods. © SAGE Publications 2011.