We keep old pictures or post images of ourselves online as ways of organizing or reconstructing our past. Images are important because we derive some kind of pleasure from them (Sturken & Cartwright, 2001).

Photographs become evidence that we went on a vacation, held a party, or enjoyed ourselves with friends or relatives. They may display some desired quality in a relationship or your appearance at another time of your life.

Your choices in the pictures that you keep say as much about you as the images themselves. We project our truths onto the pictures that we value.


This project will explore myths you may have created or desires possibly expressed through symbols in an important photograph. Consider what it represened to you. Choose a photograph that you have possibly kept for a long time or that is important to you for some reason, and think about the questions below as you post a description of it.

Color or black & white?

Is anyone posing?

Who took the photo (do you know) ?

Is there an intended focus?

Do you know what was happening?

What details point to a specific era (clothing, hairstyle, car, decor)?

What is your favorite aspect of the it?

How do you recognize yourself in the photograph?

Why is it important to you?

How has its meaning changed since you first acquired it?

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Nintendo Culture



Okay, here I am in the early nineties just moments after beating Super Mario Bros. III for the first time. My mother wanted me to look at the camera, but having just spent the last 6.5 hours working my ways through almost every level (really, who didn't use the warp whistle? Who? What purist dare not use the warp whistle?), I just couldn't bare to look away from the final credits even for a second while she snapped a picture of this historic moment in my life.

Looking back at this photo, I see many examples of visual culture that shaped who I am today. Nintendo was always a favorite escape, and although video games are typically associated with boys, here I am, a girl complete with a skating skirt and cabbage patch kids beating one of the most famous video games of all time. You can also see how technology has changed in the past twenty years...the t.v., the game system, and the camera all demonstrate how technology permeates our lives in very meaningful ways, no matter how advanced the graphics system may or may not be.

I have kept this photo with me for years, and often show it off like I'm doing now. I'm really proud to proclaim that I was a video game nerd, eventhough I don't know the 99 lives code on Contra...but I know of it...It's just an example of how people use images and experiences to construct identity and relate to others. Here it's in the form of a generational myth...that all kids from the early 90s loved Nintendo!
Posted by Meg

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