Introduction
In this essays we will be examining a quote stated by Judith Williamson and its relevance to family photography throughout history. We will discuss Gender roles in family photography, the family album as a book, adjusting photos in a family album, how albums hide more than they reveal and how this theory has influenced my project.
Gender Roles in family Photography
Throughout the history of family photography there has always been specific gender roles. The Man would typically take photographs of the family and the Woman would be in charge of the family album. Williamson’s quote about the importance of who takes the photos (Williamson, 1984: 122) ties in here. The Woman decides which photographs are kept. As Judith Williamson states ‘family life is the
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Family collection are never just memories.’ (Holland, 1991: 1) Holland is saying that though the image themselves portrait the family as having a happy, socially acceptable image, however this does not mean that is the truth. That is why she ascribes the tag of ‘deceptive innocence’ to the pictures. The album tells a story in the same way as a book. It simply substitutes the words with photographs. The family album has the most in common with fictional books. This is because the world, facts and opinions within a book can be altered to provide a completely different context. In an Album the order, timing and contents of the pictures are manipulated to control the meaning of the album. This ties into the act of discarding, which was mentioned in Williamson’s quote. Holland proceeds to state ‘Each new generation brings new perspectives, new understanding and new forgetting.’ (Holland, 1991: 1) Holland shows us that family albums can be altered to provide different perspectives and this reinforces the false narrative produced in family
The idea of “family” is almost entirely socially constructed. From grandparents, to friends, to wives and fiancés, the means by which we decide who is related to us and who is not is decided by the person and their milieu. In Mignon R. Moore’s “Independent Women: Equality in African-American Lesbian Relationships”, Eviatar Zerubavel’s Ancestors and Relatives: Genealogy, Identity and Community, and Franz Kafka’s The Judgement, this idea is tested. Who do we consider close enough to us to share our most intimate details and how do we choose them? Each piece offers a different view, which is the “right” way for each of the people described, whether broad (as in Zerbavel’s reading) or specific (as in Moore’s reading), but there are also many similarities in the ways family is defined and actualized.
“Abandoned Farmhouse” and “Ode to Family Photographs” both capture the theme, essence of family. However, one poem highlights turbulent times and the other emphasizes flaws that add to the memory of family in a positive way. The mood of “Abandoned Farmhouse” is dark and lonesome, whereas the mood of “Ode to Family Photographs” is fatuous and nostalgic. Each poem shows evidence of a mood which contributes to the overall meaning of the poem.
Curtis’s work represents the ideological construction of foreign cultures in the 'way of seeing' that is suitable for the audience of the photograph and the photographer. This illustrates the highly political motives of photograph, carrying multiple meanings in order to craft certain imaginations of the subject (Berger, 1972). As a result of the power that the photographer has on its subjects, certain messages and ‘way of seeing’ are depicted through photographs. For instance, expected gender roles are played out in photographs of the Indian subjects, portraying the expectation of Curtis and his audience of the masculine and feminine behaviour by the subjects conforming to such gender standards (Jackson, 1992). Indian men are captured in what Jackson (1992) describes as ‘active poses’, such as fishing or dancing, juxtaposed with the ‘passive poses’ of female subjects, photographed in more decorative postured of waiting and watching. Though it can be argued that the manipulation and selection of images by Curtis as an artist’s ‘creative manipulation’ of their work, Curtis’ photography was used as a scientific measure, and hence should be devoid of such influences (Jackson,
I think we all tend to blame something or somebody when things turn out badly; however, what happens when such blame involves an innocent subject? And the reason behind it is because of fear of the unknown future—a.k.a change. In the Modern Scholar essay, “Family: Idea, Institution, and Controversy,” Betty G. Farrell discusses the social and political structures that influences our concept of family; one of the influences are the political “scapegoats” caused by the
The poem “Extended Development” by Sarah Kay explores the ways in which the art of photography has changed throughout time, yet still remains a highly important and influential hobby. More specifically, how photography is an important aspect in each member of the speaker’s family. By using allusions, characterization, and imagery, Kay explores how the art of photography has changed throughout time.
The author clearly shows how his childhood effected his adulthood, making in a living example of what he is writing about allowing the audience to more easily trust what he is writing about. Instead of using factually evidence from other dysfunctional family incidences, the author decides to make it more personal, by using his own life and comparing family ideas of the past to the present.
Photographs capture the essence of a moment because the truth shown in an image cannot be questioned. In her novel, The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold uses the language of rhetoric to liberate Abigail from the façade of being a mother and spouse in a picture taken by her daughter, Susie. On the morning of her eleventh birthday, Susie, awake before the rest of the family, discovers her unwrapped birthday present, an instamatic camera, and finds her mother alone in the backyard. The significance of this scene is that it starts the author’s challenge of the false utopia of suburbia in the novel, particularly, the role of women in it.
In the beginning of the story, the author gives the reader images of the two families that demonstrate the level of goodness in each family. In the first paragraph, Morton, the father of the "good" family, is described as, "reading the Times Magazine section, one arm flung around her [the mother?s] shoulder" (965). Also, the mother?s attitude toward the day is seen when she thinks to herself, "How good this is" (965). Morton and the mother happily watch their son, Larry, play in the sandbox in the park. All these images suggest a happy family that has a good life. Even the thought by the mother expresses the goodness that she feels toward her family and life, in general.
In the essay “Why We Take Pictures” by Susan Sontag, she argues that taking photos can be a tool of power and sometimes even a defense against anxiety(353). Taking pictures can be a great source of power, according to Sontag. The photographer has the power to show what they want and people can choose whether or not to be in the photo. Sontag uses the example of a family photo; as some family photos portray the family being happy, many people cannot see that the family might not actually be as happy as they look. Sontag also uses examples like nuclear families and traveling in order to enforce her claims about picture taking. In a nuclear family, Sontag believes that taking a picture of that family can help relieve some anxiety because people
Taylor and Lou Ann demonstrate a symbiotic relationship between the roles and characteristics in a family. Edna Poppy and Virgie Mae replaces the missing physical and emotional traits in a stable household. The examples tie into the fact that not all families in this book match “the norms” and expectations, but are equally valued, blood or
Sontag, Susan. "Essay | Photography Enhances Our Understanding of the World." BookRags. BookRags. Web. 15 Apr. 2014.
Whereas men had a so-called “head-start” with painting and sculpture, photography was pioneered by and equally associated with both genders. Sexualized images of women circulated via mass media. Described as a voyeuristic medium, photography was a powerful tool in deconstructing the male gaze and bringing private moments into the public domain (Bonney 1985: 11).
Born to Nettie Lee Smith and Bill Smith on December 18, 1918 in Wichita, Kansas was William Eugene Smith, who would later revolutionize photography. His mother Nettie was into photography, taking photos of her family, especially her two sons as they grew up, photographing events of their lives (Hughes 2). Photography had been a part of Smith’s life since he was young. At first it started out always being photographed by his mother, and then turned into taking photographs along with his friend Pete, as he got older. They often practiced developing photos in Nettie’s kitchen, and he later began to create albums with his photographs. His photographs diff...
Everybody is born and made differently, but one thing is similar, our gender. We are born either male or female, and in society everybody judges us for our gender. This is called gender roles; societies expecting you to act like a male or female (Rathus, 2010). Some people say, “act like a lady,” or “be a man,” these are examples of how gender roles work in our everyday lives. In society when we think stereotypes, what do we think? Many think of jocks, nerds, or popular kids; gender stereotyping is very similar. Gender stereotypes are thoughts of what the gender is supposed to behave like (Rathus, 2010). One example of a gender stereotype for a man would be a worker for the family, and a women stereotype would be a stay at home mom. Though in todays age we don’t see this as much, but it is still around us. In different situations both gender roles and stereotypes are said and done on a daily basis and we can’t avoid them because everyone is different.
Photojournalism plays a critical role in the way we capture and understand the reality of a particular moment in time. As a way of documenting history, the ability to create meaning through images contributes to a transparent media through exacting the truth of a moment. By capturing the surreal world and presenting it in a narrative that is relatable to its audience, allows the image to create a fair and accurate representation of reality.