Doing Family Photography: The Domestic, The Public and The Politics of Sentiment

Rose, of the Open University, UK, combines scholarship and emotional sensitivity in this examination of the family snapshot. She sees these generally inartistic images as not just private records of the life of a family but as media that bind families and friends together over long distances. When displayed in the home, they identify the space as personal. They are also subtle signals concerning family dynamics. These salient observations lead to her main theme. Rose argues that, in time of public trauma, family photographs are usually used to show both victims and villains. Her case in point is the 2005 bombing of the London Transport System which killed fifty-six people including the bombers. She demonstrates how the family photos of the victims were used to put a face on the tragedy, but also to manipulate public feeling. The victims were generally shown singly, apart from their families and yet grouped as members of a diverse human family that was London. Rose looks at how these private photos were used to evoke shock and grief, but also to identify the victims as part of a private group labeled "us". There are many more nuances to this study, particularly in the realm of gender perceptions, both public and private, as expressed through the taking, saving, organizing and distribution of the humble family photograph. Annotation c2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Gillian Rose is Professor of Cultural Geography at the Open University, UK