Snapshot Versions of Life is an important foray into the culture of photography and home life from an anthropologist’s perspective. Examining what he calls “Home Mode” photography, Richard Chalfen explores snapshots, slide shows, family albums, home movies, and home videos, uncovering what people do with their photos as well as what their personal photos do for them.
Chalfen’s “Polaroid People” are recognizable—if ironically viewed—relatives, uncles, aunts, and All-American kids. As members of “Kodak Culture” they watch home movies, take pictures of newborn babies, and even, in their darker moments, scratch out the faces of disliked relatives in group photographs. He examines who shoots these photos and why, as well as how they think (or don’t) of planning, editing, and exhibiting their shots. Chalfen’s analysis reveals the culturally structured behavior underlying seemingly spontaneous photographic activities.
Author(s): Richard Chalfen
Publisher: Bowling Green State University Popular Press
Year: 1987
Language: English
Pages: 223
City: Bowling Green
Contents......Page 8
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS......Page 7
PREFACE......Page 10
CHAPTER 1 Kodak Culture and Home Mode Communication......Page 13
CHAPTER 2 Social Organization, Kodak Culture, and Amateur Photography......Page 26
CHAPTER 3 Cinéma Naìveté: The Case of Home Movies......Page 58
CHAPTER 4 Snapshot Communication: Exploring the Decisive Half Minute......Page 79
CHAPTER 5 Tourist Photography: Camera Recreation......Page 109
CHAPTER 6 Interpreting Home Mode Imagery: Conventions for Reconstructing a Reality......Page 128
CHAPTER 7 Functional Interpretations......Page 140
CHAPTER 8 Home Mode Imagery in Other Communicative Contexts......Page 152
CHAPTER 9 Conclusions and New Questions......Page 170
NOTES......Page 178
APPENDIX Home Mode Questionnaire......Page 206
INDEX......Page 216
