Jiří Mádlo, MA Thesis

The Functionality of the Traditional and Digital Family Photographic Albums

THE FUNCTIONALITY OF THE TRADITONAL AND DIGITAL FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHIC ALBUMS

MA Thesis

De Montfort University

Leicester

Author: Jiří Mádlo

MA: Photographic History and Practice

UKPASS code: W63271

Thesis words count: 22115

Abstract

This thesis looks closely at the history of family albums and looks in detail at the photographs especially the snapshots. The family snapshots freeze their free time whilst capturing the actions of the family in a various places.

The research question and the following discussion explore the functionality of the traditional and the digital family albums. The thesis will try to outline their purpose by looking at a few characteristics within the traditional and digital family albums and how the albums serve during these changes original purpose.

I used the traditional family album from the Record office in Wigston from the 1920’s of the Smith's family. The digital examples that I have studied are photographs from facebook.

Throughout the four chapters the thesis explores the characteristics of photographs containing cars, the theme of family holidays and the human element as the most obvious subject matter in the family snapshots. However the first chapter will take the reader back to time before the 1920’s as they will be introduced to the development of the photographic album.

I will examine all of these characteristics from the perspectives of both the traditional and the digital albums. I will continue to raise the question of the functionality of the albums from the different eras whilst also looking at their effectiveness at capturing the reality of family life.

In my conclusion I shall re-examine all the chapters and present the final discoveries of my research. Furthermore the other main aim of the conclusion is to give the reader an idea of where future research about family albums can go and what further research questions could be explored.

This entire thesis was written by Jiří Mádlo as part of the MA programme of Photographic History and Practise at De Montfort University of Leicester.

I would like to especially thank you, Dr. Kelley Wilder, for her great continual support during my study. Without her encouragement and trust throughout my study, complete my MA would have been difficult to achieve. I would like to also say thank you to Dr. Kris Juncker, for her constructive critiscism, particularly written feedbacks, which will be held at my home forever. In addition, I would like to say thank you to Dr. Gil Pasternak, although he did not accompany me through the whole study, he has contributed to make significant changes to my final version of my dissertation. My thanks also include Colin Harding whom I met for my tutorials and whose extensive knowledge has also contributed to my work. I would like to say thank you to my wife Gabriela for her patient reading of my work and thank you goes to Lauren Ballard for her hard time while she corrected my grammar.

I confirm that this dissertation was written by my own and I did include all citations of other authors, which I used in my work.

August 2013

Jiří Mádlo

Table of content

Introduction 7

CHAPTER 1

1854, 1888 and the eras between the two World Wars. 11

How could these times influence the family photographic

albums? Smith and digital family photographic albums in

the time line of the history of the family albums.

CHAPTER 2

Car 21

CHAPTER 3

Family photographic albums: free time and validating what we see. 29

CHAPTER 4

Snapshots of family and friends. 42

CONCLUSION 52

BIBLIOGRAPHY 54

ATTACHEMENTS 60

Introduction

“Ev'ry time I see your face,

It reminds me of the places we used to go.

But all I got is a photograph

And I realise you're not coming back anymore.”[footnoteRef:1] [1: Ringo Starr, Photograph (song), released by Apple, 1973.]

“I do not have a family pictures at home because if I would have, people will start ask questions about my family. And I don't want to remember them.”[footnoteRef:2] This quote comes from one Czechoslovakian movie from 1990 called Zkouškové Období (trans. Exam Times). The actor is saying that in the scene, by looking at the family pictures the viewer is exposed to many emotions and he does not wish to evoke any sentimentality by recalling memories of his family. People are more likely to project their past to the present when holding a family snapshot. The past and the time when the snapshot was taken and put into the family’s photographic album.[footnoteRef:3] The photograph displays only a fragment of each captured family, time spent with their loved ones or with close family friends too. Moreover, this time was frozen in the certain circumstances. The viewer now only perceives this minor time selection by holding the family snapshots and for this moment, the whole context of family is played down and condensed into one time. [2: Zdeněk Troška, Zkouškové období. Drama, (Československo: 1990), 87 min.] [3: Family photographic album is further referred in text as ‘album’ only.]

This work will be dealing with happy family snapshots too. Moreover, this research explores happy memories inside the happy family photographic albums.[footnoteRef:4] I will be looking back onto memories and family emotions by dealing with both the traditional and the digital albums. This work may be seen as some kind of tool for the reader of the albums and their snapshots. In some respect, the function of the tool could be seen if we consider the term through the object, which the albums are as they provide the shelter for the family snapshots where the family’s visual memories are stored in one concrete place. The albums are the visual reflection of families and their lives, viewed as a book on the shelf perhaps or in the computer stored under the digital data. Don Slater states that; “photography is intimately bound up with domesticity and the private world throughout, that is evident in family portraitures and snapshots for instance.”[footnoteRef:5] We will be looking not only into the private world of our selected albums, but also we go beyond the word private and we will consider if this meaning has changed in the digital age by looking into the family photographic albums and looking at the most obvious characters – objects or themes which keep appearing in the family snapshots. [4: I use this labeling as reader will see later in this writting based on an actual existing Canadian family photographic album, when I am talking of what family snapshots represents. ] [5: Don Slater, ‘Domestic photography and digital culture,’ in The photographic image in digital culture, ed. Martin Lister (Abingdon: Routledge, 1995), 29. ]

The importance of the family snapshots and later of the albums seems to increase since the photograph was first taken. It is also noticeable that since the mid 19th century the place of photography has changed in the lives of the common people as it expanded extensively from the fashion of having at home, a memorable Cartes de Visite of the family to change into a necessity of every day living. This fact will be particularly seen in the first chapter where I will reflect on the three key phases, which centre around the predisposed idea of family photographic albums. These phases almost correspond with Gustavo Lozano’s views. He also names the key moments of the stages in the history of the albums, which influenced them.

Through this thesis, I will follow my argument that the traditional and the digital family photographic albums still have identical objects such as cars, similar characteristics, leisure, subjects and a human element, what keep appearing in the family snapshots. In other words, the aim of this research is to reflect that these characteristics may have or may have not changed the meaning within the traditional and the digital albums. Thus through these meanings and their changes in the family snapshots, I try to discover if the function of the albums stays and continues to be the same or, if the meaning of the albums is developing in the different direction? I also show through the chapters that the function of the traditional family photographic album did not collapse in the digital age but that there are noticeable differences in both formats of the family snapshots.

The first chapter introduces views and outlines the reasons why I have considered the years 1854 and 1888 and then the period between the two world wars as the fundamental moments for the evolution of the albums. The reader should improve the understanding of the context for the album within the photographic history. I have decided to include this content because it provides the background to the theme of the family albums. Terry Barrett supports this vision and concept when he says that “the historical context will add the richness to our understanding of easier photographs-those we can understand by looking at them.”[footnoteRef:6] Terry Barrett describes the richness and the understanding of the photographs in the way I look at them too and it is my aim to achieve this in the first chapter. This part also serves to portray the fullness of the pictures when the reader looks into the described albums in the context of these three key phases within photographic history. Moreover, I do not try to overload details about the history of the photography to the reader but I want to bring their interest for the subject out. [6: Terry Barrett, Criticizing photographs. An introduction to understanding images (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2006), 107. ]

The second chapter will consider and closely look at a few examples of the albums. Respectively as I have already mentioned I will be dealing with some of the most obvious characteristics of the albums. However, the purpose of this work is not to tediously describe and study the features, but to reflect on the most obvious signs of them. Don Slater says that he sees that photography is caught with one obvious aspect of private life and that is leisure.[footnoteRef:7] We could argue how much this is accurate however, leisure is the dominant theme, which appears in our albums in almost each snapshot and leisure is reflected during my writing of each chapter too.[footnoteRef:8] In the second chapter, I consider a car as one of the most repetitive photographed objects in both traditional and digital family photographic albums. Nevertheless, I will not reflect the car much from the point of view of its importance for leisure (even though it is) but I will look at the car and its representation in the albums and how the album has changed its function from, the point of view of the witness from the certain time and context they are regarding it. In addition, I hope to show what a car can tell us about the photographic history, about the people - who they are and why they are associated with the car in these particular snapshots?  [7: Don Slater, ‘Domestic photography and digital culture’ in The photographic image in digital culture, ed. Martin Lister (Abingdon: Routledge, 1995), 130.] [8: This is based on selected snapshots of Smiths and the digital albums. The percentage for the leisure time snapshots comes close to 90%. ]

As I mentioned earlier, I will research the traditional family photographic album and its characters, which are based on the study of the Smith family’s photographic album and a few virtual albums in the digital form via the social network Facebook. Eva M. Smith is a possible creator of the traditional album and she probably took most of the family snapshots too. However I cannot be certain about the author of the photographs, this speculation is based only on primary observations of the Smith album. The whole album contains over a hundred and thirty family snapshots in various themes. The Smith family’s photographic album reflects eight years of their family life and their close friends. The whole album is part of a much broader album, in a collection held by the Record Office in Wigston.[footnoteRef:9] Regarding the second type of photographs that I have mentioned previously, the digital pictures I have used as examples for comparison are stored on Facebook. This social network is one of the major online places where people can store their snapshots and create various family albums or albums of hobbies, pets, holidays and special places. I chose this social network because its popularity as a digital medium is very significant.[footnoteRef:10] The comparative snapshots that I used, are only from my English friend’s Facebook albums. I do not include any photograph which belongs to someone that I do not know. However, I made conducted a little research into some of the randomly selected Facebook albums in order to clarify my opinions. [9: Record Office is based in south of Leicester in part called Wigston. Record Office holds various documents about mainly local history and includes parts of Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Rutland and also some parts of Nottinghamshire. Contact to Record office is: Long Street, Wigston Magna, Leicester, LE18 2AH.] [10: One of the estimante from many says that facebook has got 1.155 billion users and monthly active users grown from 2012 to 819 milion. This number doesnt show how many snapshots are store on facebook account but it ilustrate how accessesible is for the people to store and share their snapshots. http://www.socialbakers.com/blog/1862-key-stats-from-facebook-q2-call-now-at-1-15-billion-users. Viewed: 15.6. 2013. One photo album can hold about one thousands images. That is potentialy together with how many users using the facebook a huge number of the snapshots and other photographs store in one place – network. http://www.facebook.com/help/227794810567981. Viewed: 15.6. 2013.]

The following chapter explores a few topics around the reality of the albums. The leading issues include the main aim of this thesis which is: “How much reality is captured within the family photographic album if there is any displaying authenticity at all?” The investigation includes many snapshots, for instance; one is from Skegness in 1921, 1922 and 1927 and a few more of the digital images, such as three pictures from Becky’s album, entitled ‘Turkey 2009’ and another one from Riky’s Facebook album, the examination observes not the visual elements but as well the unseen behind the scene contexts of the pictures. Is it reality what the reader has perceived there? Alternatively, using words of others on how reality can speak through the family snapshots, Don Slater answers that the albums “are idealizing reproduction of the family life.”[footnoteRef:11] Don Slater’s statement of idealizing the family and its life is considered mainly in relation to the human element within this work, as the major subject in each album is the repetitive theme of happy memoirs of the house of Smiths, house of Mádlos, house of Svobodas and of most family houses.[footnoteRef:12] The albums portray the family memories as mainly positive. Therefore, the true reality can easily fade and is fading in the snapshots. This last chapter explores further the representation of the albums that embody only fragments of family life. I will additionally touch on the technical issues, which influences both the traditional and digital albums. Elizabeth Edwards illustrates this when she states that: “…digital environments and technologies have, of course, radically impacted on photography.”[footnoteRef:13] I will contrast the traditional albums against the digital snapshots, which jump out at readers from a computer screen. Pierce Bourdieu extensively studied the subject of reality and objectivity in photographs and their “details of the composition in family snapshots”[footnoteRef:14] therefore I include his theory on this. [11: Don, Slater. ‘Domestic photography and digital culture,’ Martin Lister, The photographic image in digital culture (Abingdon: Routledge, 1995), 130.] [12: House of Mádlos and house of Svobodas is meant my and my wife family.] [13: Elizabeth Edward, ‘Thinking photography beyond the visual?’ in Photography. Theorectical snapshots, ed. Noble J. J. Long, Andrea Noble and Edward Welch (New York: Routledge, 2009), 32.] [14: Mark Durden, Fifty key writers on photography (Abingdon: Routledge, 2013), 53.]

This thesis should provide comprehensible information and facts based on the observation of the diverse photos that I have selected. The four main chapters should serve as an open minded written account of the albums and perhaps indicate which areas for study of the family snapshots are the most appealing for them to consider further reading.

The conclusion is only a brief statement of my response to the thematic question and to my aim, which I have outlined in the introduction.

1.

1854, 1888 and the eras between the two World Wars.

How could these times influence the family photographic albums?

Smith and digital family photographic albums in the time line of the history of the family albums.

“But o, photography as no art is,

Faithful and disappointing that records

Dull days as dull, and hold-it smiles as frauds,

And will not censor blemishes

Like washing-lines, and Hall’s-Distemper boards”[footnoteRef:15] [15: Philip Larkin, Lines on a Young Lady's Photograph Album. http://www.poemhunter.com/best-poems/philip-larkin/lines-on-a-young-lady-s-photograph-album/. Viewed: August, 2013.]

In 1839 photography began the era of a new kind of images.[footnoteRef:16] This new process of capturing the light and the darkness, the shapes and their shadows, the objects, the animals and the people (one of the main objects of family photography) was based on the exact technique and mechanization that replaced the brush strokes of the artist when you desired to capture the world around you. Before the proclamation of photography itself, the previous generations captured authenticity through artists hands with canvas, brushes, and paints only. But from 1839 onwards people were given an alternative way to capture the world through the mechanical machine. That is what we recognize today as the photographic camera. The person could use this new technique alongside with the already established art of painting. Photography as a new and original medium offered a new way of how to preserve reality around us.[footnoteRef:17] In the early years of photography the New York newspapers shouted praise over the accuracy of the photo’s that were printed there. The other cities joined and Parisian correspondents applauded the photographic images and wrote admiringly of the reality of the underwater rocks on the banks of the brook, or the withered leaf on the ledge. Photographs were given worldwide acclaim, for example, John Ruskin, who on viewing the photos described them by the words: “as if a magician shrunk fact, bring it to the magical land.”[footnoteRef:18] Together with the evolution of photography, its process’ and its affordability the problematic question arose to where or perhaps how the owners of the pictures would keep their images safely and handy to look at them and to share them and present them to their love ones and friends. Since 1839, the photographic industry has developed camera equipment and pictures relatively fast. The “toy for the clever, the wealthy and the obsessed”[footnoteRef:19] spread to people reasonably quickly and much later photography became to be part of every day life in camera phones or tablets. Nowadays most people have instant access to photography thanks to these gadgets, and can take snapshots in various places, and then upload images to social networking sites into the customer personalized digital family albums without any special skills needed for this. [16: January 7, 1839 Paris announcement in The Literary Gazette "We have much pleasure in announcing an important discovery made by M. Daguerre, the celebrated painter of the Diorama. This discovery seems like a prodigy. It disconcerts all the theories of science in light and optics and, if born out, promises to make a revolution in the arts of design."] [17: The question how photography – snapshots can captures reality will be discuss later in the following chapters. ] [18: Karel Císař, Co je to fotografie (Praha: Hermann&synové, 2004), 45.] [19: Susan Sontag, On Photography (London: Penguins Books, 2002), 7.]

The traditional conception of how to present and store paintings by positioning them on the household’s wall was a great way to present pictures which has worked well for centuries; however it was not an option for the multiple family photographs.[footnoteRef:20] The need for a special place where people could accumulate their family photographs came especially, in light of the photographic evolutionary process which allowed families to invent the Cartes de Visite, when the fragile framed photograph exchanged the material into the paper. The time of the Daguerreotypes, Ambrotypes or Tintypes were the first highly successful photographic methods in the history of photography.[footnoteRef:21] The cased photographs for instance Daguerreotype pictures were based on the copper plate with a thin layer of silver. However, the whole Daguerreotype processes were much more complicated and for illustration American photographer Henry Snelling describes the Daguerreotype process in the seven key but problematic stages.[footnoteRef:22] After this, exact phases image was housed in the case or the frame, which became soon a key developing business in the photographic industry in the 19th century for its irreplaceable role in Daguerreotype process.[footnoteRef:23] However, the idea of the family photographic albums seems to be available before the announcement of the photography itself in January 1839. Gustav Lozano for instance recognized that the idea of creating a family photographic album was conceivably inspired by scrapbooks from a few centuries earlier. The scrapbooks gave the chance for a creation of a special place for its owners to securely store some of their collections of the various objects of sentimental worth.[footnoteRef:24] The scrapbooks were advanced not only for diverse objects but they became household tools for the storage of some of the early photographs too. Smith’s album and the digital albums in the 21st century are part of the specific history of photography - the history of family photographic albums. I believe that the digital albums within Facebook, Flickr and other digital media sites belong to the existing stage in the album’s evolution. Smith’s album is on the phase of the progression towards the digital transition in the album’s history. Smith’s album as a transitional object is understood in the distinction of the previous understanding of the idea of the family photographic albums in the 19th century. As a quick example I reflect that the way in which the photograph portraitures display the human poses in front of the camera has changed significantly. The 19th century poses were more frozen; still painting like and very formal thus altogether distanced from everyday life which contrasts next to the 20th century poses which are full of laughter, informality and sometimes theatrical like acting and thus more relaxed. There are no more taboos in the present day photographs, such as taking pictures whilst drinking alcohol and there are a lot of examples in the digital field of posing with a glass of wine, a cocktail or beer, especially during the holidays. The meaning of the glass of alcohol is arguable and there are more than one perspectives behind it. It can mean for instance a show of social status as wine, beer or cocktails as drinks for different occasions or showing the popularity of the person within the family, social circle or economic value by showing more expensive drinks in the more respectful venues. The comments with the pictures can bring out the fact that the person was drunk and is not afraid to admit it as the picture shows ‘a great fun influenced by alcohol’. As I show these changes but still some of the same characteristics within the history of the albums I argue as well that the historical context including historical events is essential for a better understanding of the album’s meaning in the family life. [20: We know that especially early photographic processes, respectively they frames were ,,typical`` paintings frames and they could be placed on the household walls. As an example please see coloured ambrotype from 1858. Helmut Gernsheim and Alison Gernsheim, The history of photography (London: Thames and Hudson, 1969), 347.] [21: See more: John Hannavy, Case histories. The presentation of the Victorian Photographic Portrait 1840-1875 (Woodbridge: Antique Collectors Club, 2005), 11.] [22: Henry H. Snelling, History and Practise of the Art of Photography (New York: G.P. Putnam, 1849), chapter five. http://archive.org/stream/ost-art- The_history_and_practice_of_the_art_of_p/The_History_and_Practice_of_the_Art_of_P#page/n7/mode/2up.] [23: See more: John Hannavy, Case Histories. The presentation of the Victorian Photographic Portrait 1840-1875 (Woodbridge: Antique Collector’s Club, 2005). ] [24: Gustavo Lozano, http://notesonphotographs.org/images/f/f4/History_and_conservation_of_albums_and_photographically_illustrated_books_for_web.pdf. Viewed: August, 2013. ]

I consider that the period between the First and Second World Wars together with years 1854 and 1888 are very important moments in the history of the photography especially for the protection and preservation of family memories. I do not mean it in the sense that the album itself came with the specific technical innovations but in the way that photography as a growing industry came with certain ideas which influenced the idea of the family albums. The companies started to produce different sizes of photographs which helped to develop the market for the albums and various designs to keep the competion flowing.[footnoteRef:25] These three considerable stages in photographic history, established the idea of the family photographic albums in a way that meets the family’s needs, and allows the albums to be more widelt accessible for others. Gustavo Lozano for instance also identifies three key stages in the history of the albums, which in many senses corresponds with my list of the key historical events.[footnoteRef:26] He likewise understands that these stages are fundamental for the evolving idea of the family photographic albums. The first of Lozano’s stages is perceived between 1839 and 1850 when some of the first photographic practitioners started to experiment with paper photography.[footnoteRef:27] Lozano sees this time as a time of expensive and weighty photographic cameras, in late 19th century which they were only accessible as devices for the affluent, smart and keen enthusiasts. [25: The nowadays market gives option for various projects including scrapbooks, which brings crafts out, a big number of magazines, photo books, online scrapbooks, etc.] [26: For instance Lozano’s first stage correspond with my first and second phase (1854 and 1888).] [27: Gustavo Lozano, http://notesonphotographs.org/images/f/f4/History_and_conservation_of_albums_and_photographically_illustrated_books_for_web.pdf. Viewed: August, 2013. ]

The second of Lozano’s stages also resembles Martha Langford’s understanding of the importance of the Cartes de Visite too.[footnoteRef:28] I understand the albums of Cartes de Visite as a first prototype of the ‘proper’ version of the family album. After 1854, the photographic process allowed for facilitating the development of photographs, which brought easier access to the family snapshots, and therefore the need for the album rose. The calling cards term which can be use as another name for the Cartes de Visite, were patented by Parisian photographer Andre Adolphe Eugene Disdéri in Paris on 27 November 1854.[footnoteRef:29] He was driven by the idea of making photographs cheaper and more available for the people. However the concept of Cartes de Visite were introduced previously, for instance in 1851 in the French journal La Lumiere in 1851.[footnoteRef:30] In addition, in Britain Dr. Hugh W. Diamond regarded himself as responsible for the introducing of the Cartes de Visite photograph in 1852.[footnoteRef:31] I believe that the sensation which Cartes de Visite caused was one of the first major elements in the history of the family photographic albums and so 1854 could be seen as the first ‘innovative’ time for the birth of the modern idea of the family album. Cartes de Visite became immediately an exceedingly popular product because of the cost of their making and the easier accessibility to own them.[footnoteRef:32] One of the advantages in the opposition to Daguerreotypes or Ambrotypes was that the Cartes de Visite did not require a protective case or frame. However, with the earlier Cartes de Visite’s some manufactures still produced frames for them, although it is very rare today to find such a framed Cartes de Visite therefore, for collectors it is an object with great value.[footnoteRef:33] The photographs were standardized in terms of their sizes and Cartes de Visite had one exact dimension. The image was 94mm x 58mm and they were glutted typically on the paper card of the size 102mm x 63mm. The ability of the Cartes de Visite to be multiplied if we can use this term, ensured that the images were suddenly available for many social classes in the 19th century. Susan Sontag states that “through the photography each family put together their family portraiture chronicle” and by the influence of the how “family as a nuclear entity” changed, family photography played the role of the reconstructing the vulnerable continuity of the family life.[footnoteRef:34] Nevertheless, that was not quite possible for the majority of the families before the invention of the Cartes de Visite. In some families for instance, the postmortem photograph was often the only recollection for family members of their lost loved relative.[footnoteRef:35] Although this may sound morbid by today’s standards, this was usual practice in the 19th century and the image of a deceased child was not unfamiliar. When Hellen Ennis speaks about the postmortem photography and its use, she highlights that it “was relatively low cost (form) of a photographic portraiture,” which allowed the family to possess postmortem images as a keepsake.[footnoteRef:36] It could be argued that to have a chance to keep the postmortem photographs in the late 19th century especially for the working class family in Britain due to the low cost increased photography productivity, however regardless of this, for many families, who belonged to the lower classes, the photograph was still an unaffordable object. Furthermore, the postmortem photograph was still only a single image, which could only illustrate the history of the particular family and its members to a certain degree and it was still considered a credible account of the family when the child died. Arguably, the postmortem photography did trace the family history but at the same time, these photographs cannot be taken into the account as the photographs had to be attached to the albums, as there was not usually not a collection of them within the family. “The theme of the dead is not agreed with the idea of the albums as a happy space for the family memories.”[footnoteRef:37] [28: See more in: Karel Císař, Co je to fotografie (Praha: Hermann & synové, 2009), 79.] [29: Robin Wiichard and Carol Wiichard, Victorian Cartes de Visite (Risborough: Shire Publication Ltd, 1999), 13.] [30: Ibid. Also in some literature you may find that invention of the Cartes de Visite is decicated do Louise Dodero. That is based on the letter from 24. 8. 1851. ] [31: Helmut Gernsheim and Alison Gernsheim, The history of photography (London: Thames and Hudson, 1969), 293.] [32: See more in Helmut Gernsheim and Alison Gernsheim, The history of photography (London: Thames and Hudson, 1969), 295-300.] [33: Robin Wiichard and Carol Wiichard, Victorian Cartes de Visite (Risborough: Shire Publication Ltd, 1999), 14.] [34: Susan Sontag, O fotografii (Praha: Paseka, 2002), 14.] [35: Jaroslav Kulhánek, Černobílá fotografie (Praha: Orbis, 1972), 20-21.] [36: Helen Ennis, Reveries, Photography and Mortality (Canberra: National Portrait Gallery, 2007), 15.] [37: Paul Hill, Approaching photography (Lewes: Photographer’s Institute Press, 2004), 75.]

However Cartes de Visite were the first successful type of the photographs that allowed the family to almost continually (evidence of birth, wedding or first child for instance) record their family history. From 1854 onwards, families started to own more family visual records then before which more or less repeatedly captured family life.

In the later half of 1860, alongside with Cartes de Visite, a new product was introduced of a larger size, which was a named period in the history of photography by individuals such as Helmut Gernsheim and Alison as the “the Cabinet period.”[footnoteRef:38] These photographs were named Cabinet photographs because of the size of the actual image which was bigger.[footnoteRef:39]However, the principle of the Cabinet photographs remained the same. The time of the Cartes de Visite and the Cabinet photographs are sometimes called “the golden age for the photography.”[footnoteRef:40] Moreover, this designation is not misleading because the popularity of these photographs during this time increased rapidly. This fact underlines and corresponds with the last stage of Gustav Lozano when he sees the late 19th century as a time when people had a chance to work and use a camera more independently due to the camera’s developing technical ability. [38: Helmut Gernsheim and Alison Gernsheim, The history of photography (London: Thames and Hudson, 1969), 300.] [39: See more: Helmut Gernsheim and Alison Gernsheim, The history of photography (London: Thames and Hudson, 1969), 302-303.] [40: Jaroslav Kulhánek, Černobílá fotografie (Praha: Orbis, 1972), 7.]

The growing importance of photography in the late 19th century has especially significant implications when I consider the year 1888. I understand that Gustav Lozano’s term ‘technical capacity’ is closely related to the Kodak Company. In 1888 Kodak introduced a famous slogan ‘You press the button we do the rest’, “which was marketed together with Eastman’s Kodak No. 1 camera.”[footnoteRef:41] This important slogan in the history of the camera changed the photographic industry. From this time I perceive that photographic cameras started to be a significant object on the market for more people, no longer only available to those with ample money and time. Furthermore, in the early stages of photographic history persons needed to be educated in chemistry in order to be able to work a camera and produce a print.[footnoteRef:42] What Kodak did alongside to the fact that they developed some of the most important innovations in the photographic industry was to create the stripping film. One of the advantages of the striping film was that it enabled people to deal with the photographic process without a lot of deep knowledge which had been necessary for the photographers before this period.[footnoteRef:43] Helmut and Alison Gernsheim draw attention to the fact that Kodak enormously appealed to amateur photographers in relation to the post process. When an amateur photographer finished the shooting of his film in Kodak cameras he/she just simply sent the film off to Kodak shop for the images to be developed. However, Helmut and Alison Gernsheim feared that Kodak had “let loose many of the evils” due to the fact that, in their opinion, the push-button is a method from “which photography is suffering today.”[footnoteRef:44] However, I still see that this is one of the key phases of the modern history of the family photographic album. In addition to this the snapshots that were produced are a significant and recognizable type of photograph in the family photographic albums which started at this point of year 1888. [41: Colin Ford and Brian Harrison, A hundred years ago (London: Bloomsbury, 1983), 12.] [42: See example of the photographic process: Roger Taylor, Impressed by light. British Photographs from paper negatives, 1840-1860 (New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2007), 63-68] [43: Colin Ford and Brian Harrison, A hundred years ago (London: Bloomsbury, 1983), 406.] [44: Helmut Gernsheim and Alison Gernsheim, The history of photography (London: Thames and Hudson, 1969), 415. I do understand this, that it mean that push-button customer loose real sense for the process of how to take images. Push-button cameras did not require really knowledge of much setting. ]

Not only thanks to Kodak but to also to other various people and companies, the photographic industry allowed people to accommodate these new demands concerning the snapshot photographs and albums started to become more than a collection of a few pictures but developed into an autobiographical pictured book of the family history. It would not be correct to give the credit only to Kodak Company for the popularization of the rise in amateur photography.[footnoteRef:45] The French company started to use the stripping of the sensitive layer’s technic developed by Scott Archer in 1851 and which was further improved by Alexander Parkes in 1856. From there, Georges Balagny came up with the idea of a stripping film in 1883. “There were several other kinds of stripping film on the market, but it was not used to any extent until George Eastman introduced it for the Estman/Walker roller-slide in 1886 and Kodak in 1888. … For only a year later Kodak was loaded with nitro-cellulose roll-film.”[footnoteRef:46] The process was complicated and involved an application of a gelatin emulsion but the photographer did not deal with anything, as it was Kodak Company doing that for them. [45: Read more in chapter Photography on film in Helmut Gernsheim and Alison Gernsheim, The history of photography (London: Thames and Hudson, 1969). ] [46: Ibid., 406.]

Kodak’s strategy for selling was accompanied by a Kodak advertisement for their products through ‘The Kodak Girl’.[footnoteRef:47] ‘The Kodak Girl’ advert targeted women especially as this new method was accessible to all, including previously latent customers. This is also an important development in terms for the albums because I believe that women, thanks to Kodak advertisements started to use cameras more frequently than men in order to capture their love ones. Kodak focused on the notion that ‘even women’ can work with the photographic equipment because Kodak had simplified it enough for them. I have to add that I am not sure that nowadays women would appreciate this kind of advertisement in the digital age. [47: See example of Kodak girl advertisement in attachment. Reproduction calls: Take a Kodak, was bought in Bradford in 2013.  ]

Gustav Lozano emphasized that the 19th century is certainly comprehensibly the most important time for the evolution of photographic history but from my point of view it was the inevitable era between the First and the Second World Wars that enabled the right development of the idea of the family photographic albums. Of course the innovations in photography in the late 19th century contributed and influenced the popularization of photography and subsequently, the development of the albums which allowed the albums to begin move into the direction, as we understand them today. The examples from Smith’s album can help to understand the idea of the family album in the 20th century. This album shows good examples of the wider uses of the snapshots.[footnoteRef:48] In addition to this, I see that during this period between the two World Wars the albums started to include pictures from much more varied themes, the albums were broader in documenting the family and places and were bringing out more action from the lives of the people in them. “When the Victorians allowed themselves to be photographed or painted, they adopted stiffly formal poses. With photographs, the reason may have been partly technical, but it was also regarded as appropriate, especially at weddings, christenings, anniversaries, outings and funerals, …”[footnoteRef:49] The flexibility of the cameras and subsequently the places where images were taken became more noticeable in the beginning of 20th century. Smith’s album brings out the 1920’s in more innovation and execution, which is expressed in full power for the first time in the history of the albums. The stiffness and formality remains but it is not so strongly obvious as in comparison with the Victorian photographs. [48: I do understand that snapshots exist before, however I used term modern in sense that Smith snapshots reflect much more of leisure time of family. Also images captured family in various free time holidays situations in much diverse themes compare to family albums before First World War or in 19th century. ] [49: Colin Ford and Brian Harrison, A hundred years ago (London: Bloomsbury, 1983), 27.]

The economic growth after the First World War allowed more people to use cameras much more, at least in Britain and created the beginning of an era where we are able to identify the modern idea of family albums. This is demonstrated in the Smith family, as they had more chances to spend their free time together between the Wars then the previous generation had in the past. The working classes especially, had more opportunities to use the cameras for the first time but also they had many more reasons to use it as well. “As a recreation, photography was beginning to compete with the church and the pub.”[footnoteRef:50] The idea of holidays and leisure time was changing in Britain. The changing trends are obvious in the developments of the time as the first Butlins camp was opened in 1936 and the families could start to contemplate a week away from their homes. This new opportunity to spend free time with the whole family away from every day life strengthened the need for this fast growing photographic industry, which was increasing in the market.[footnoteRef:51] The middle classes were also growing in Britain and with their growth the economy flourished too. Eva M. Smith’s family was or at least it was their aspiration, which I read from the pictures, to become a middle class family or they at least wanted to be seen that way in the eyes of others. The album shows their family’s depiction as a middle class family. In addition, Gustavo Lozano also indirectly sees the period between the two world wars as a chance for the albums and for the photography to “step into the new geographic territories and social niches.”[footnoteRef:52] For instance, Smith’s album contains snapshots from the various places in Britain, miles away from their home in Leicester, which is quite unusual in comparison with the albums completed by the Cartes de Visite photographs as I researched this phenomenon in the Register Office in Wigston. Many families economically improved their position in society and were able to save a little money so that they were able to take holidays accompanied by the camera.[footnoteRef:53] [50: Ibid., 17.] [51: See more in: Ellis Wasson, Dějiny moderní Británie – od roku 1714 po dnešek (Praha: Grada, 2010), 299.] [52: http://notesonphotographs.org/images/f/f4/History_and_conservation_of_albums_and_photographically_illustrated_books_for_web.pdf. Viewed: August 2013. ] [53: Off course Britain had several economic problems but still economic grow was significant. See more: Ellis Wasson, Dějiny moderní Británie – od roku 1714 po dnešek (Praha: Grada, 2010), 285-289. Also see again Kodak also advertised poster, which I bought in Bradford in attachment (Fig. 1) that idea to take camera with you, for instance. ]

Smith’s album can prove that some of the families in the 1920’s were able to take more snapshots of their relatives and friends in more diverse settings, then what families could have done at the end of 19thcentury. The idea of the capturing happy family memories was probably wider strengthened and finally established as the only type of the photographs to be placed in the albums between the World Wars. The albums increasingly, visually supported this idea of happy memories from the family life and of the individuals. Some of the companies maintained encouraged these feelings, by selling albums with the front cover imprinted with the words ‘Happy memories’ or ‘Happy snapshots’. Smith’s album does not contain this labeling but their snapshots themselves clarify that fact. All snapshots inside the Smith family photographic album can be described as happy memories in photographs. In addition to this, the Smith’s album reflects family life in more real times then photographs did in the past and this function of the album partly continues to be reflected in the digital albums too. The mind may be struck by the thought of the interpretation of real time. That issue is argued further in this thesis. As I stated previously, as the photographic industry started to grow the notion of the albums also started to develop with it.

I do believe that Smith’s album in particular has to be seen as a kind of transitional stage between the old static images of the 19th century family photographic album and the digital family photographic albums. The digital family photographic albums can be seen arguably as the latest stage in the evolution of the family albums but at the same time it would be wrong to see them as the final platform for the idea of the albums. I will now look more specifically at the family snapshots inside the albums.

The snapshots capture many family members and their friends that are unknown to contemporary viewers, in various leisure situations, such as when they were playing tennis, cricket, or golf. The family ‘free-time’ shots take place outside, which is arguably their family gardens or weekend trips in Skegness or Cromer. We are able to see a small fraction of the local events too. Each snapshot has written text, which belongs to each image. We are given the exact date and sometimes even the location. For instance the snapshots from 1923, show the family members meeting at a hunt possibly around Belvoir castle in the Vale of the Belvoir. Furthermore, many snapshots capture the family in less active past times such as taking afternoon tea with their friends, giving us an insight into the daily activities of a middle class family in the 1920’s. The dates on the snapshots shows that they were taken between 1921-1927.

In addition to this album and also from the Wigston’s Record Office’s album collection, I shall be looking into an album which for research purposes is called ‘Stublo’s album.’[footnoteRef:54] It is an album from the late 19th century and it covers only few years of the family’s life and perhaps family friend’s lives too. The photographs show only portraitures in the typically ‘frozen’ poses of the 19th century. It only consists of Cartes de Visite and Cabinet photographs, there are nearly fifty photographs in the album. Furthermore I will study two more family albums, which are both digital albums. One is Becky’s and the other is Riky’s album on Facebook. I will only use their first names as neither of them wished to share their full identity, which does not impair my research at all. In these four different albums, each album contains over two hundred snapshots. The themes throughout are various but the idea of the family photographic album remains more or less the same in each album. The digital snapshots capture family life, their fun time, free time and various activities of their family and friends. Some of the albums cover only one event or family fun by displaying numerous snapshots. We see that albums cover a period between 2009-2013. [54: Stublo name appear on some photographs so I am presuming that was family name.]

By using these four different family photographic albums, I try to illustrate the transitions that photography has undertaken in time and to clarify the differences and similarities between the eras, so that the reader can gain a better understanding of Smith’s album and the digital albums. In addition to this I will also try to briefly outline the differences in how the photographers captured family life.[footnoteRef:55] Stublo’s family photographs are only portraitures and cannot be called snapshots due to their lack of naturalness and in some respect because of the lack of spontaneous feelings in the images. I believe that most of the photographs were taken in the photographer’s studio due to the carefully placed composition and the technical quality of the photographs. I can see however the limitation of this exploit that appears in the Cartes de Visite and Cabinet photographs. In contrast in the Smith’s album the progression, in terms of action and spontaneity is more visable, however, this is in detriment to the quality of the photo as some of the snapshots are not as sharp and are often blurred due to poor lighting or the lower quality of the camera. Becky’s and Riky’s digital snapshots show their families during various activities such as holidays, it could be said that both albums are full of the actions of modern day family life. Despite this, these digital albums still store traditionally composed family group postures and various poses that seem familiar from the Smith’s album. All of the snapshots are sharp and flash and in many occasions the camera is able to support the photographer’s poor lighting conditions. [55: Please be aware that I only focus on this particularl matter how peoplea appear and in what situation are in on the photographs. Other aspects for instance technical has not been accounted.]

In terms of transitions, Smith’s album covers some signs of the late 19th century’s album characteristics but it also develops the idea of the modern family photographic album in terms of action shots. Smith’s album still has some elements of Stublo’s family album such as the ‘frozen poses’ of the people and the snapshots also served to document many years of the family in the album. In addition to this the digital albums also show signs of similarities to the Stublo and Smith albums which I will dicuss later. Smith’s album started to show more action and different events from the life of the family, especially during their leisure time. It is evident that the family stepped out of the photographic studios of the professional photographers and took advantage of the new technology to make their own shots. As well as the over riding themes, there are other noticeable changes in the organization of the albums.

Stublo’s family was certainly limited by the themes of the photographs that they could place into their photo album which meant they were also limited in the organization of their photographs.

Fig. 1

Untitled (Portrait of young girl)

Cabinet Photographs – late 19th century.

Stublo family album catalogue number: DE3736/1699/1-10

Record Office – Wigston.

The album itself, which they created, was also quite restrictive, as it predefined the way in which they could structure the photographs on each album’s page. The album pages are also already colored or ornamentally decorated. In contrast to this, Smith’s album is distinctive. The author of the album’s design was allowed to put many images on each page, in fact they could use as many as the page limitations could tolerate. In addition, the album allows its author to write some description to each snapshot, such as the family event and dates. Special days such as birthdays were covered in about three or four snapshots. The digital albums take this a step further in that they can be customised by various software that is easily available on the online market.

I want to illustrate in the next few chapters that each album contains, follows, and develops further some signs and characteristics of albums that preceded it. As previously stated the 1920’s Smith family album could be seen as a link between late 19thcentury Stublo photo album and the digital family albums on Facebook. “The family’s album was often maintained by the daughters of the home, underoccupied, bored, and housebound by the proprieties of the age; submissive victims of what ... Florence nightingale, saw as “the petty grinding tyranny of the good English family”’.[footnoteRef:56] We could see these albums also in the context of what Patrizia Di Bello says when she makes a connection between the 19th century albums and modern photo albums that are completed by using digital equipment. I will not focus on the fields of the materiality cultural as Patrizia Di Bello does but I will show that there are other similarities between the 1920’s family album and the digital albums. The following chapters will discuss several typical themes, which appear in both Smith’s and in the Facebook albums. I hope to illustrate how the functions of their similarities have changed and the implications this has had on the use of the albums in the digital era. [56: Gus Macdonald, Camera: A Victorian Eyewitness (London: Batsford Ltd, 1997), 55.]

2.

Car

“At last you yielded up the album, which

Once open, sent me distracted. All your ages

Matt and glossy on the thick black pages!

Too much confectionery, too rich:

I choke on such nutritious images.”[footnoteRef:57] [57: Philip Larkin, Lines on a Young Lady's Photograph Album. http://www.poemhunter.com/best-poems/philip-larkin/lines-on-a-young-lady-s-photograph-album/. Viewed: August, 2013.]

According to dream books, seeing a car in your dreams means that “someone is very envious of your social status, your better ratios”, or it could also be, “warning you before of some rivals.”[footnoteRef:58] However, our dreams do not really reflect reality and they tend to show the most irrational facts or associations. Dreams contain a minimum of logical continuity and seemingly lack the basic hierarchies set in place in realty. As such, the explanation of a car in a dream cannot be taken seriously. Although, Sigmund Freud argued the contrary, he studied dreams psychoanalytically and others followed him. Furthermore, an argument could also be made that the interpretation of a dream can depend on previous notions held. For instance, historically, only the wealthy owned cars and because of these pre conceived ideas owning a car is still seen as a symbol and a sign of social status. [58: Dagmar Kludská, Snář (Praha: Brána, 2011), 42.]

This chapter is not going to analyze the meaning of cars in our dreams further but it will look at the car as an object and its meaning in Smith’s and in the digital albums. The word symbol will be outlined in the beginning of this chapter because cars and other objects often play a particular role in the albums. I will investigate the meaning of the car as the symbol in the family snapshots. In addition, I will examine these snapshots and the changes of functionality in the traditional and digital albums. The car is portrayed as an object and as a symbol in both Smith’s and the digital albums. But what do we actually understand by the term symbol?

To comprehend the notion of the symbol, I have to come out of the current sense of the word symbol to try to find an alternative explanation. Symbols represent the existing and the recognized expression of the transpersonal world of the senses and values. Basically, they point us to something that is not registered by the mind. Symbols embody more than we can comprehend at a glance. The emergence and the establishment of a symbol can be entirely a matter for the individual. However, established symbols will occur when any given group accepts it as a symbol. Thus allowing said symbol to become comprehensible and transparent to others.[footnoteRef:59] Therefore, any object in the albums such as a car in Smith’s album could be seen as a symbol for the social status because the society of that period recognizes the car commonly as a symbol of the social status. The establishment and the recognition of any symbol is a very narrow link. The albums do not participate in the establishment of the symbol but they provide the space for the symbol’s recognition and visual context for viewers of the family albums.[footnoteRef:60] Paul Tillich declares that “the act of creating symbol is a social act, although initially starts with one individual.”[footnoteRef:61] In the historical context, a car can be read as a symbol of the wealthier class. It is commonly read in that way including pictures in the photo album but not because Smith’s family decided that, the car is a symbol of richer families from now on. On the other hand because Smith family could recognize the value of the car and the collective association with the car, they placed these snapshots in their photo album. Paul Tillich documents my thoughts about the symbol, which represents the reality of its period and is “tightly connected with it, and therefore cannot be - unlike the character - arbitrarily replaced by another symbol.”[footnoteRef:62] Nevertheless, I believe that this symbol of the car has not transcended the decades in terms of social status. This is because, in the digital age a car is not seen and associated with a power and higher social status of the wealthier class as in the 1920s. The car is a common object owned by most families; the social status is given to the owner by the make and type of the car in the digital age. [59: See more in Ivan Mucha, Základní sociologické texty (Praha: Nakladatelství a vydavatelství Aleš Čeněk, 2003), 123.] [60: See more: http://www.getsemany.cz/node/1574. Viewed: August, 2013. ] [61: Ivan Mucha, Základní sociologické texty (Praha: Nakladatelství a vydavatelství Aleš Čeněk, 2003), 220.] [62: Karel Sládek, Mystická teologie východoslovanských křesťanů (Červený Kostelec: Pavel Mervart, 2010), 68.]

Returning my attention back to the case of Smith’s album I cannot say if the car in their snapshots was Smith’s property or not; but these snapshots reveal the family aspirations to be a part of a certain social class, in this case, that of the middle class. For instance, on the snapshot when the Smiths went by car to Bradgate Park, it is important primarily, that they were mobile and they could travel outside Leicester without using train or bus as this gave them independence. Whilst it can represent the family effort, aspiration, and desire of the class it cannot show whether it was actually their car. However, there is a stark difference between Smith’s and the digital albums because the meaning of a picture with a car in the album has changed. Therefore, the function of the digital album collapses in this symbol. The digital albums do not represent the people’s aspiration to belong to the certain social class as the classes changed the meaning in the 21st century.

Consequently, the role of the both family photographic albums remains the same in terms of understanding the indexicality of the car as an object and the sign of the car. I am using indexicality in relation to the albums because of the problem to analyze the reality in the photography. Stephen Bull summaries this issue of the indexicality as the idea of the photograph which is showing reality of what also “…Bazin, Sontag and Szarkowski all refer...”[footnoteRef:63] The indexicality then refers to the indication of the reality in the snapshots and in the family photographic albums. More specifically in Smith’s album and now in the digital albums too, a car is perhaps not a symbol but sign of the prosperity and not only aspiration to belong to specific social status so both types of the family albums meet in terms of functionality again because of sign but not because of the symbol. [63: Stephen Bull, Photography (Abingdon: Routledge, 2010), 14.]

The term sign in relation to the family photographic albums and symbolic function itself is far more complicated as Charles Sanders Peirce is concerned in his essay ‘What is a sign?’ He stated, in his essay, that the term sign has three categories; indexical, iconic, and symbolic. Peirce uses triadic model of the sign, object, and interpretant. This diagram explains the relation between the three points.

Sign

Interpretant Object

The term sign represents a certain object, and then sign refers to the relevant mental concept in the mind of the recipient so to the interpretant again about the object. The indexical understanding of a sign refers to the material object and next to there is the iconic sign. “More simply, a sign that is iconic resembles (or ‘looks like’) its object, but need have no material connection to it. … A sign, that is symbolic, is not caused by a material relationship to its object, nor does it resemble it. … What appears in a photograph, they argue, usually looks like what was physically in front of the lens for the duration of the picture being taken.”[footnoteRef:64] The car in both traditional and digital family photographic albums represents an indexical sign but the sign can be iconic at the same time. [64: Stephen Bull, Photography (Abingdon: Routledge, 2010), 16.]

When I look at the car and what it can symbolize without Peirce’s essay on sign then I still can argue the reasons behind the picture. In the context of the time, it shows the class but even then only if the car, in the picture belongs to the family.

I have in the front of me a few snapshots; one is from Smith’s album and two are from the selected digital albums on Facebook. I observe, firstly, the snapshot of Smith’s family.

Fig. 2

Sunday Oct 15th 1922

Smith family album catalogue number: DE3736/ 6

Record Office – Wigston.

The car and the people in it are two dominant signs in this exact snapshot. It was taken on Sunday 15th October 1922. The image consists of a dark car, six people–two women and four men with two houses behind them. A man next to the driver is barely recognizable on the image as he is almost hidden behind the driver, only a hat indicates his attendance. My interpretation of the Smith’s album, based on the research I have done tells me that this group of people is the Smiths family. I can practically recognize Eva M. Smith and her father. The two symmetrical roofs behind the car shows rural buildings which look like barns. The make of the car is not obvious to me, it is a dark colour. It appears to be a warm day because the roof is down but not too hot because people are wearing coats and are wrapped up. This photograph tells me a story about a trip to the countryside. On observing two more images in the album from the same Sunday, one is lead to conclude that the snapshots are documenting a trip to the south of Leicestershire especially seeing as one image is of the same group of people. Furthermore, the text page says “Family Group: Peatling Magna Oct 15th 1922”. When I look closely at the picture Mr. Smith wears the same clothes, Mrs. Smith with two daughters are wearing black hats and the young man next to the driver stands now with the family. The driver is probably taking the picture.

This process of recognition (but based on different facts and circumstances) reminds me slightly of Marianne Hirsch’s identification methods when she describes her feelings whilst looking through her family album. That acknowledgement of her great-grandmother is in relation to her because she was told that the woman in her family album is her ancestor and not because she knew who she was.[footnoteRef:65] She found the ancestor she could identify herself with. What Marianne Hirsch declares here can be valid for any family member when they see their ancestors because they have that previous knowledge of who are they looking at in the particular snapshot. So I felt a similar emotion that I already know this family because I looked through this album and read notes underneath the photographs, I have realized that I have been given this family’s life in the pictures in 1920s. I have started to recall my family photographs and sadly realized that I do not have such a link with my own roots. There comes my regret that I do not have an album of my family and I am not sure if it is caused by a divorce of my parents or protective care of my grandparents to keep me out off the family history and off the albums especially. I can vaguely remember few photos of my great-grandfather and his family but to be able to compare the English album to the Czech album it is not enough. However, that emotional experience was my personal reaction mixed with my memories but with Smith’s album, I do not have the benefit of retold history. I was not successful in finding a living relative, whom I could ask about these pictures. Therefore, my only knowledge is the one from the pictures in the front of me but nothing more. In opposition to this experience with Smith’s album the Facebook albums allow me to read more about their snapshots. [65: Marianne Hirsch, Family frames, photography narrative and postmemory (Harvard: Harvard University Press, 2012), 53. ]

Although, what I found beneficial in both albums were the descriptions of each snapshot. Smith’s album provides a small hand written text with the date of the event and usually the place. Similarly, the digital photos utilized the availability of electronic comments, the tagging system and the author’s description. The digital albums particularly have potential to provide a different experience when Marianne Hirsch talks about recognition. In both albums, function of the potential validation of what we see (reality) is remaining the same. Nevertheless, the whole culture of seeing and showing the photos has changed as the type of photographs has changed.

Now let’s pull our attention to the second selected snapshot from the digital album.

Fig. 3

Riky Fenton’s Facebook family album

This album is stored on the Facebook account of my friend and it contains a simple story at first sight. There is an old white off road car. The driver is sitting on the left site. He is holding the steering wheel, his door is open and he looks through the door towards the camera. His position in car indicates that he is driving even if the car is not moving and driver is not paying any attention as to what is happening in the front of the car. The steering wheel and a part of the number plate reveals that whole scene might be overseas and not in England.[footnoteRef:66] The back of the car is converted into open space with two long seats opposite each other. It looks as though it could accommodate six people. In this shot, a man is there standing in the passenger’s seat area holding a metal construction, which is part of the vehicle’s roof frame. From the virtual conversation with Riky, I have found out that it has been taken during the family holiday in Turkey. [66: Notice the steering wheel is on the left side. Also number plate is white on rear of the car. That does not mean whole scene is abroad however it is more likely to be. ]

Now I should start to pay attention to the standing men in both sets of albums to discuss the role of the mediator and narrator and their meaning in the different eras. Smith’s snapshot shows Eva’s father standing up, he is distanced from all passengers in the car and he is most visible. His full attention is given to the photographer. A few of the others look into the camera too but they have not stood up to have their picture taken. The driver, the person next to him and the man behind him look in the front of them. It appears that father wants to show a leading position, his importance there. He supports his social position (or aspiration) as he holds the pipe and holds a walking stick. The driver could be just a ordinary driver because as the car stands still he does not look into the camera lens which implies it was not important to him.

In the 1920s a car was not an easily affordable possession for the average family.[footnoteRef:67] However popularity of cars increased rapidly. In 1920s, it was a time of a vastly growing car industry. The statistics show that the numbers of the registered cars in Britain grew very fast. In the 1920s, Britain received two hundred thousand private registrations. However, ten years later in 1930 the British motor industry grew to about one million private registered cars.[footnoteRef:68] [67: http://suite101.com/article/cars-in-the-1920s-a90169. Viewed: March, 2013. ] [68: http://www.blacksacademy.net/content/3163.html. Viewed: March, 2013. ]

No matter which model, you needed a significant amount of money to own a car. A good income together with the means to save money was a significant element before you could afford any car. This is an important factor these days too but for many middle class families it was not taken for granted.[footnoteRef:69] The Parading a car in public was a matter of family pride. It was seen as a symbol of success. Furthermore, it was likely that the owner wanted to share that success. The Smith family are presenting a symbol of possession through the snapshot with the car. The middle class and the working class started to have opportunity of free time. By the second half of the 19th century; the position of free time spent with family had strengthened. The car changed the way how people could spend their own free time. The factory workers especially could escape from the daily routine and be part of the leisure space. The car gave the flexibility to take a road trip without being restricted by public transport. What Smith’s snapshot represents in their album is a kind of power of the current social class. It is the “continuity of the promoting our success started from childhood”[footnoteRef:70] For instance, when you have been photographed with your favourite toy. What Smith’s album provides here is the evidence that after the First World War the ability to be able to reach and buy a car was spreading to more social classes. [69: These days off course not everybody has got chance to perches vehicle too. However I believe it was much financially difficult especially after First World War. ] [70: Jaroslav Kubeček, Technika fotografování (Praha: Státní nakladatelství technické literatury, 1960), 114.]

The pose on the shot speaks about the hierarchy in the family too. The father is the highest person standing whilst both women sat down and the rest of the men seem to be in a lower position than the father. Each of the albums present the same object but Smith’s snapshot materializes the consolidation of family as a group much better than Riky’s. There is a significant change in the meaning of the car as an object in the digital era. The meaning of the standing man has also changed. The car is there, the man is there, it belongs in the album too but the semantic and social meaning is different. By looking at Riky’s pose with the car I cannot detect the same attitude towards the social class as seen in Smith’s picture. I know it is captured in Turkey during the family holidays and it tries to show an action of a hunter as the scenery behind the car is full of wild greenery. The car lost its importance of the validation or the aspiration of the social class because the context of the digital album is changed. Riky’s snapshot shows the adventure, the exotic as the car is clearly an off road jeep, this car has lost its social status or class as “an object of the prosperity.” [footnoteRef:71] These days it is not a car itself that is the exclusive object to have; it is the make of a car to show the financial situation of the owner. Without further discussion with the owner of the picture the reader is unable to identify any importance of the place because there is not an obvious sign of any extraordinary nature location. As I mentioned it demonstrates the way in which Ricky has spent his free time, which is the same aspect with Smiths. This adventure in opposition to Smiths does not include any other family member. I can argue here that it may have been his own trip or the family members did not see the importance to appear on the same picture with the car. [71: http://www.autoevolution.com/news/cars-no-longer-stand-for-social-status-in-germany-23729.html. Viewed: March, 2013. ]

To illustrate my thesis of disappearance of social importance to own pictures with a car I can describe here another image.

Fig. 4

Becky’s Facebook Family album

It is from Becky’s album on Facebook named ‘A Night at the Movies’. The album uncovers the whole event. Becky’s family is out on a themed party. The specific image is taken possibly by Becky on the car park and in the middle of the picture are two young women dressed up; one as an Egyptian Queen and another one as a burlesque dancer. The object of the car is present but not important. Few cars are behind the women but not obvious which one of them is possibly theirs. I still perceive that some of the albums can show or try to visualize family success by picturing the car in the central and prominent position but I believe that this notion is changed. The social status shown by a car is more individual led than family led in the albums nowadays.[footnoteRef:72] The usual theme of the digital albums is to show the viewer: ‘Look, I had a great time!’ The car is the object, which could help me to get to the place of interest but not the object to show my social class. When Susan Sontag states that “each photograph is only fragment”[footnoteRef:73] of the each person’s reality, it reminds me of the fact that I need to measure each photograph within the context.[footnoteRef:74] The car is indexicalby Peirce’s classification but I cannot forget to take in account the reality, the fixed lenses and I can only judge on the visual, what the actor and the author of the picture wanted me to see. [72: It is more important for a single young men or men without children to show their power by pictures with their ‘beloved’ car than to the mother or father as it is obvious in the various digital albums of the common people. I do not mention here a social status of the rich people and celebrities.] [73: Susan Sontag, O fotografii (Praha: Paseka, 2002), 98-99.] [74: See more in: Jiří Foltýn, Fotografie (Brno: Radek Mikulka, 2007), 56. ]

3.

Family photographic albums: free time and validating what we see.

“I heard your voice through a

Photograph

I thought it up and brought up the past

Once you’ve gone you can never go

Back

I’ve got to take it on the other side”[footnoteRef:75] [75: Red Hot Chili Peppers, song: Otherside (Warner Bros, recorded, 1999). ]

Roland Gunter states that; “You have to be stupid to believe that the picture itself is complete reality.”[footnoteRef:76] In addition Alexander Freund adds that “it is easy enough for historians to understand that photographs”, just like other pictures, are “not self-evident, do not speak for themselves, and need to be understood not as objective depictions of past reality but rather as artifacts produced by people with interest and agendas at a certain time and place, artifacts that are shaped as much by aesthetic conventions as by social norms.”[footnoteRef:77] These powerful sentences outline what I intend to explore in this chapter when I examine the family picture throughout the photographic age by using examples from Smith’s and from the digital albums. The search for the truth and its evidence in the time is my main concern in the next few pages. [76: Roland Gunter, Leaves of grass. Can photography capture our tine in images? (Bielefeld: Kerber, 2004), 107.] [77: Alexander Freund and Alistair Thomson, Oral history and photography (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011), 10.]

“Until the nineteenth century, working class-aspirations had been encapsulated in the image of an urchin in a flat cap, pressing his nose against the window of a great house, where his betters were engaged in their social rituals of dining well or dancing in accordance with the current fashion. Now the urchin was to be invited to the party, though strictly on the host’s terms. The Crystal Palace was an act of unconscious symbol of this new state of affairs: the walls were all of glass but the lower orders were now inside, joining in the fun.”[footnoteRef:78] I had to start with this quote that I have recently read, when I was exploring the magic of the Crystal Palace. The difference between the classes diminished, the opportunity for fulfilled free time flourished. From this perspective every album not just then but even more now keeps the memories of ‘happy’ events very vivid. Each photograph in itself tells its unique story. Smith’s album is a personal statement of one family and how they spend their free time over a period of eight years in the 1920s. Ricky’s and Becky’s Facebook albums give a testimony and a personal reflection of themselves and their families in their free time too but more a in depth tour around their lives over a shorter period of time. [78: Kindle edit. 5% smallest font: Michael Leapman, The World of the Shilling (London: Faber and Faber, eBook edition, 2011). ]

The leisure time or ideas of spending leisure time appear in most of the family photo albums. It is one of the album’s principle and most substantial themes, to show how they have enjoyed the family time in a sweet ostentatious idleness. Our question remains the same here: ‘how real are these snapshots and the portrayal of the whole family album’s atmosphere and what else does the album tell us about the reality of the family?’

To answer these questions I will focus on a small selection of photographs from both the traditional and digital albums. Smith’s album provided me with a couple of pictures from Skegness one from 1921 and another was in 1924. Riky’s album offers me a picture with his daughter and a dog near Ancasterby by a unknown reservoir, whilst Becky’s picture from album her trip to Turkey in 2009 is of her husband and daughter. I will try to show in these few examples that between the traditional and the digital family photographic albums the differences are not that massive. Thus in the end the function and the reality of the albums do not collapse neither in the traditional nor the in digital age.

Maria Short states that the only “factually correct aspect of photography is that it shows what something looked like under a very particular set of circumstances.”[footnoteRef:79] Smith’s snapshot when they display the Smith family and their friends on the tennis court give us an impression what the game of tennis is all about, which sport kit you need to play it, a possible place to play this game and it gives us an indication of the atmosphere of the tennis setting in the 1920s. We could also surmise that some of the Smith family members were probably active during their leisure time and establish how they spend it but we cannot be completely sure. Furthermore these snapshots have been used as indication to illustrate what the typical tennis dress looked like in 1920s in Britain. From these facts, I have read into the photos that I could assemble a family story, for instance a story of a middle class family from Leicester with a reasonably good income that have enough free time to be able to play tennis regularly. [79: Maria Short, Context and narrative (Lausanne: AVA Publishing SA, 2011), 14.]

I have demonstrated that snapshots can be interpretated differently and it is a matter how we read them and respectively how we think what family snapshots represent in the family photographic albums. Maria Short also declares that “telling a story through photographs can take many forms and presenting or viewing an image in a particular context will inform how the image is read.”[footnoteRef:80] In which context Smith’s album can be seen as a representation of a middle class family as I stated previously, who liked playing tennis, socializing with friends, visiting Skegness and Cromer. It needs to be taken into consideration that this is only six years of their family life. So in this respect the tennis snapshot can be read in the context of all images, that tennis was important part of their lives. The reader of the album can see many pictures of Eva S. with the tennis racket, as a group image with a few ladies of the same age group, with a description underneath a few of these shots is written that it is the tennis club. On a few images there are children with rackets too. In the pictures taken in Skegness there is a family playing golf, Eva is reading a book on the image amongst other activities. If I were to continue with my visual analysis of the album, I will yield similar results as this particular family seemed to enjoy their leisure time actively and tried to document it well throughout the period between 1921 – September 1927. The last picture takes the reader again to Skegness where the journey of the album’s reader started – Elsie in Skegness in 1921 and then Eva Skegness 1921. [80: Ibid., 14.]

The digital album of Riky’s is different to Becky’s and can give the reader many contexts and signs about his life. Becky’s albums are better divided into sections according to the event, for instance holidays etc. This digital form of the album gives the owner the power to give the image a name, to open the album to friends or keep them out, when the privacy mode is switched on, or the user can tag their friends and family into the images as well as give them chance to add comments or ‘give a thumbs up’ as a friendly ‘approval of the picture’. To get a better picture about the family it is not enough to see just one image, no matter if it represents the traditional album or the digital one. Is the story truthful, which is given to the reader? Not entirely as it is impossible to be a complete reflection of real life.

The main benefit of the photographic image was that it was considered remarkable for the mathematical accuracy of each detail, which would be then be beneficial for science and scientific research. In the early days of the photography its accuracy, in which images brought the objects into people’s living rooms, photographs were fascinating for everyone. The photograph itself is a complete reality of every day life for many of us.

The opinion about having trust in photography in the albums to portray reality is in our case often discussed in the literature where the authors are debating the reflection of the image’s reality. “Snapshot provides, for the first time, a glimpse of how ordinary people of the late nineteenth century onwards lived, and records this with a factual accuracy and clarity which only photography can achieve.”[footnoteRef:81] Smith’s album delivers historical facts too. I can debate the reality of life in Stublo’s album by posing that those pictures do not truthfully reflect ordinary life. Some of the aspects such as fashion is recorded well in both albums but Smith’s gave the reader a better picture as it shows a larger period of six years and mirrored many occasions and events, therefore showing the fashion of the time more vividly. I also observe that the clothing during the playing of tennis and golf, reflect the time it was taken and their attire also changes when they go on holidays. The digital albums can be read exactly the same. The next generation will have a strong idea based on Ricky’s snapshots of what fashion was in around in the period 2010-2013. Is this a reflection of fashion and of true family life? [81: Brian Coe and Paul Gates, Snapshot Photograph: The Rise of Popular Photography, 1888-1939 (London: Ash and grant Ltd, 1977), 13.]

I would argue with Brian Coe and Paul Gates about the statements of the albums and the photographs respectively, especially about the ordinary lives of these people. The idea of the album is deeply based on the idea of what a family wants to capture and then store, as their own selected happy memories on pages either made from paper or digitalized pages. I have mentioned a few times about happy memories and it is because I believe that the images capture mainly positive emotions and that sad or negative emotions do not come through. Sarvas and Frolich state that these unhappy images, if there are any have got a “sentimental and nostalgic character in nature.”[footnoteRef:82] However because families like to have a positive presentation of themselves to show to the close family circle or with their friends, the albums tend to present a family always in a positive light. That reflects fact that the snapshots survive into these days with the “smile syndrome.”[footnoteRef:83] The sad images are there but hidden away from the happy pictures. People tend to take the last picture of their loved family members to the funeral, but they are usually kept separately on their own. It is also known from the history of the albums that the family images served as a tool for the research. Joe Spence states that when he photographed his family he did it for “the investigation of his baby socialization.”[footnoteRef:84] In this example Spence used photography for psychological therapy, as a measure of the function of the family, but in some ways these pictures used for psychoanalysis still underline the common use of the albums as a place for happy memories.[footnoteRef:85] [82: Risto Sarvas and David M. Frolich, From snapshot to social media – the changing picture of domestic photography (London: Springer-Verlag Limited, 2011), 6.] [83: Ibid., 11.] [84: Karel Císař, Co je to fotografie (Praha: Hermann&synové, 2004), 79.] [85: Marien M. Warner, Photography: A cultural history (London: Laurence King, 2010), 463.]

That very well known determination to look better and present oneself in a cheese smile version is obvious in the family snapshots throughout all eras. During the 1930’s, the idea of ‘happy memories’ were printed on some family albums. For instance in Canada the customer was able to buy a family book album for the snapshots with the cover page HAPPY SNAPSHOTS or HAPPY MEMORIES.[footnoteRef:86] “Don’t we have film, video, television? Where emotionality and experiencing are concerned, reality is much more impressive than film, and film is vastly superior to photos. Photography, however, is a means of cognition and knowing.”[footnoteRef:87] Contrary to the film and media opinions the picture captures the exact sequence of the time and makes the experience accessible to an individual. This period of time is always showed in full in reference to the albums as a happy moment of our lives with the ‘cheesey’ smile. Maria Mäkiranta quoted in her essay Sara Ahmed that the family albums of snapshots are “happy objects” and that “The family is a happy object, not because it cause happiness, or even because we are affected by the family in a good way, but because of a shared orientation towards the family as being good, as being what promises happiness in return for loyalty.”[footnoteRef:88] So I understand that, actually the albums can only be seen in the predominately positive approach in what to expect or what they represent. When I imagine the opening Smith’s or the digital albums for the first time I consciously expect to see the happy memories of their family life, because that is my knowledge and my experience with family albums. “Everyone’s family album contains a set of pictures which, at first glance, are familiar and predictable.”[footnoteRef:89] This expectation tells me that the family amateur photographer does not have as much freedom to capture a family as may first be thought, because the function of a family photographer is already set as what should be captured. The digital albums overall give the technical freedom and instant accessibility to the owner and the viewe