RSS feed for Picturing the family

Introduction

The Open University — Tue, 02 Feb 2016 00:00:00 GMT

Most of us today take photographs for our family albums. The lucky ones among us have also inherited family photographs from the past. These photographs provide another type of record that can offer insights into our family history. But what can they tell us? How can we elicit the information they hold? And how do we analyse or evaluate that information? The purpose of this course is to suggest how to approach the interpretation of the photographic record.

Please keep referring to your own family photographs as you work through the course. This will help you assimilate the information and assist in the analysis of your own photographs.

Don't assume that once you have studied a photograph, you will have garnered all the information there is to be found. I am constantly surprised at how much I fail to see when I look at photographs. I have given talks using the same images to different audiences. Frequently somebody seeing an image for the first time will point out details I had not previously registered.

In addition, of course, an insight you discover about an image in your collection may have repercussions for others. So the process is one of continuous reading and reappraisal. Bits of the jigsaw gradually fall into place.

This course looks at some of the ways photographs can reveal, and sometimes conceal, important information about the past. It will teach the skills and provides some of the knowledge needed to interpret such pictorial sources.

This OpenLearn course provides a sample of Level 1 study in Arts and Humanities.

Learning outcomes

The Open University — Tue, 02 Feb 2016 00:00:00 GMT

After studying this course, you should be able to:

understand that photographs are shaped by a set of conventions based on ideas and practices which are not immediately apparent
understand that photographs, like other documentary records, are partial and biased
understand that photographs, like other documentary records, require critical analysis and careful interpretation
understand the importance of contextualisation in analysing photographs.

1 How to avoid damage when handling photographs

The Open University — Tue, 02 Feb 2016 00:00:00 GMT

Remember to treat your photographs with the consideration demanded by their age and fragility. Careless handling and storage will cause damage.

Handle photographs at the edges: the skin carries chemicals which cause deterioration (professional archivists wear cotton gloves).
Hold a photograph in both hands or support an unmounted print with a piece of cardboard to avoid unnecessary handling.
Never write on a photograph with anything other than a soft lead pencil (2B or 3B recommended). It is good practice to write a unique identity number on the back of a print and then make notes separately on paper.
Never do anything to a photograph that cannot be undone without causing damage. Store photographs in a dark, dry, cool place.

The Bibliography section at the end of this free course contains books that provide more detailed information on the handling, storage and conservation of photographs.

2.1 Styles of photograph

The Open University — Tue, 02 Feb 2016 00:00:00 GMT

Let's briefly examine the various styles of photograph that are commonly found in family albums.

Image 1 Photographer/Painter: Anon. Subject: Unknown woman, 1840s.

RSS feed for Picturing the family

Introduction

Learning outcomes

1 How to avoid damage when handling photographs

2.1 Styles of photograph

2.1.1 Card mounted photographs 1860–c.1914

2.1.2 Postcards c. 1902–1950s

2.1.3 Amateur snapshots 1880s–

2.2 Photographs as primary sources

2.3 Photographs as artefacts

2.4 National variation

3.1 Introducing ideology in portraiture

3.2 Idealisation

Activity 1

Activity 1a

Answer

Activity 1b

Answer

Activity 1c

Answer

3.3 Limited positive characterization

Activity 2

Activity 2a

Answer

Activity 2b

Answer

3.4 Characterisation and sexual stereotyping

3.4.1 Control of the sitter

Activity 3

Activity 3a

Answer

Activity 3b

Answer

4.1 Facial expression

Activity 4

Activity 5

Answer

Activity 6

Answer

4.2 Pose

Activity 7

Answer

Activity 8

Activity 8a

Answer

Activity 8b

Answer

4.3 Characterisation and sexual stereotyping

Activity 9

Answer

4.4 Groups

Activity 10

Activity 10a

Answer

Activity 10b

Answer

4.5 Touch

Activity 11

Answer

4.6 Touch and feeling

Activity 12

Answer

4.7 Exceptions

Activity 13

Answer

Activity 14

Answer

Purpose

Activity 15

Answer

Idealisation

Activity 16

Answer

4.8.3 Personal possessions

Activity 17

Answer

4.9.1 Natural light

Activity 18

Answer

4.9.2 Idealisation