Talking photographs

Abstract

While most of us find it difficult to enough to sort our photographs into conventional albums, a small but active community of people in the United States pursue the hobby of scrapbooking. This is referred to in the quote above, and involves the use of photos and other memorabilia to tell life stories in scrapbooks. Scrapbookers use special paper, glue and plastic covers to preserve the photographs in their books, they personalise the presentation of materials by cropping and decorating the pages in various ways, and handwrite labels and stories in the margins. In this way the scrapbook is designed to stand alone as a document for future generations in a family to review as a piece of family history. An example scrapbook page taken from Joanna Campbell Slan’s book, cited above, is shown in Figure 6.1.

“Spread before you your photo or photos, memorabilia and any notes. Ask yourself this critical question: ‘If I am to give voice to this material, what would I have it say?’ Think in terms of what information is important to capture for sharing with the next generation. Focus on what you value, and let your insights help you determine where to put your emphasis” (Campbell Slan 1999, p77).