Table Of ContentSnapshot Versions
of Life
Snapshot Versions
of Life
Richard Chal/en
BowlingGreenState University PopularPress
BowlingGreen, Ohio43403
Copyright © 1987 by BowlingGreenState University Popular Press
Library ofCongress Catalogue Card No. 87-70258
ISBN: 0-87972-387-4 Clothbound
0-87972-388-2 Paperback
Coverdesign by Gary Dumm
Dedication
To Gladys and Sam, who saw to it that
I grew up in 16mm color.
Acknowledgements
The writing of this book has been a long haul. It has been through
severalreorganizations andrewrites. Some people, more than others, saw
whatIwas up toandsupportedtheeffort. Forhelpwithearlyconceptual
issues, I wish to thank the late Sol Worth, and Erving Goffman. For
more recent consultation, thanks go to Larry Gross, John McGuigan,
and Russel Nye. I am particularly indebted to the editorial assistance
of Karen Donner. For struggling with the reading and typing of hand
written manuscripts, I thank Linda Ecker, Laureen Rafalko, and Gloria
Basmajian. Gratitude is extended to the College of Arts and Sciences
atTempleUniversityforgrantingmeanacademicstudyleavetocomplete
the first draft of the manuscript.
Parts of several chapters have been published elsewhere. Original
titles and sources ofpublication are acknowledgedas follows:
Cinema Na'ivete: A Study of Home Moviemaking as Visual Communication, Studies in
theAnthropologyofVisual Communication2(2):87-103(1975).
Photography's Role in Tourism: Some Unexplored Relationships, Annals of Tourism
Research6(4):435-447(1979).
I also want to thank the many non-professional photographers and
familymemberswhowerewillingtodiscuss theirphotographcollections
with me. And for the support, patience, and understanding of Kirsten,
Leah, and Claire, I am deeply grateful.
RMC
East Harwich, Massachusetts
Contents
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS vi
PREFACE 1
CHAPTER I
Kodak Cultureand Home Mode Communication 4
CHAPTER2
Social Organization, Kodak Culture,
and Amateur Photography 17
CHAPTER3
Cinema Naivete: The Case ofHome Movies 49
CHAPTER 4
SnapshotCommunication:
Exploring the Decisive HalfMinute 70
CHAPTER5
Tourist Photography: Camera Recreation 100
CHAPTER6
InterpretingHome ModeImagery:
Conventions for Reconstructinga Reality 119
CHAPTER 7
FunctionalInterpretations 131
CHAPTER8
HomeModeImagery in Other
CommunicativeContexts 143
CHAPTER9
Conclusions and New Questions 161
NOTES 169
APPENDIX
HomeMode Questionnaire 197
INDEX 207
Preface
We know that the majority of American families own inexpensive
cameras, and that ordinary people use those cameras to take enormous
numbers of pictures of themselves. People save, preserve, and treasure
these pictures more than many of their other possessions. We know,
too, that people take time and trouble to organize their pictures into
various kinds of albums, sometimes sending special pictures to relatives
and friends in all parts of the world. And, occasionally, they enlarge
and frame individual pictures to be hung on household walls. While
peoplecommonlyreveretheirownsnapshotcollections,theyoftenexpress
negative opinions about other people's pictures. (Being "invited over"
to see someone else's travel slides or home movies is something to be
avoidedifatallpossible.)ThequestionIwanttoaddressin thefollowing
chapters is quite simple, namely "What's all the fuss about?"
My approach to studying amateur photography draws attention to
a question that will be repeated throughout the book: "What are people
doing when they make, appear in, or look at their own collections of
personal pictures?" How do people know what to do? But I am not
referring to technical information needed to produce photographic
images. Camera manufacturers have historically taken care of that by
continually developing more fully automated, error-free, inexpensive
equipment. Commercial pressures and entrepreneurial initiatives have
soughttoguaranteethat"everypicturewillturnout."Andtheyobviously
havedonequitewell. Butquestionsaddressedin thisbookhaveadifferent
twist.
My studies have been directed toward understanding the knowledge
that one must have in order to take "good" pictures-but what is a
"good" picture? How do we decide? And how do we "know" all the
things that we know about photos-how to take them, how to exhibit
them? How do we know who should be asked or allowed to see these
pictures, as well as when and where the pictures shouldbe shown? What
is taken for granted about this type of photography? And how is this
knowledge used in everyday life?
I am also asking a set of questions about communication. I have
been studying the kinds of personal expression and interpersonal
communication that underlie forms of amateur photography. What are
I
