Family Photographs: A Discussion on How Identity Has Been Portrayed in Staged Photography of Family Photographs and Memories

Abstract

The family album remains to be one of the most prised possessions. The pages are filled with the memories and key moments of lives lived. The aim of this dissertation is to closely examine how identity has been portrayed in staged photography of family photographs and memories. This dissertation will argue that staged photography of family photographs and memories are a highly effective way expressing identity in art. It will however, address reasons that photography may not be considered as an art form.  

Chapter one will discuss the text ‘Camera Lucida’ (Barthes, 1980) whose book discusses the effects photography has on the viewer, and the impacts it has on memories, as well as visually analyse the works  ‘Hull Under Water’ (Fig 1.1, 1991), and ‘Over the Hill and Far Away’ (Fig 1.2, 1994) by Colin Gray.  Chapter two will analyse the book ‘Family Secrets: Acts of Memory and Imagination’ (2002) by Annette Kuhn and will discuss the theory of family photographs as a genre. ‘Self Portrait as my Sister Jane Wearing’ (Fig 2.1, 2003) and ‘Self Portrait as my Brother Richard Wearing’ (Fig 2.2, 2003) are photographs which will be visually examined.  

Chapter three will reference the text ‘On Photography’ (1977) by Susan Sontag, which discusses photography as a medium, and the barriers it has between fiction and reality. It will also discuss the work ‘Haley Coles’ (Fig 3.1, 2006) from Trish Morrissey’s series ‘Front’ (2006), Hans Eijkelboom’s photograph ‘With my Family’ (Fig 3.2, 1973), and the text ‘Performing for the Camera’ (Baker, et al. 2016) which discusses what it means to perform for the camera. Examining these artists’ work will allow the dissertation to understand the techniques used to achieve successful themes of identity within photography art practice.  

This dissertation arrives at the eventual conclusion that staged photography of family photographs and memories are a highly effective way of portraying identity in art and should be viewed as an art form.