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Free course

Picturing the family

Free statement of participation on completion
Picturing the family

Besides being simple mementos, family photographs can offer insights into the past. This free course, Picturing the family, looks at some of the ways photographs can reveal, and sometimes conceal, important information about the past. It teaches the skills and provides some of the knowledge needed to interpret such pictorial sources.

Course learning outcomes

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.

First Published: 09/08/2012

Updated: 09/04/2019

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