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?

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Cultural Identity Snapshot



Unfortunately I don't have any of my old family pictures with me here in the US so I had to choose from the limited photos that I have with me. I also wanted to add some multi-cultural flavor into the mix :)

This is a photograph of my friends and I during my wedding a little over a year ago. I look at this and other pictures like it to remember my friends, family, culture and who I really am. I guess cultural and personal identity are the truths that I perceive within this picture. Our truth(s) that we portray to others differ from any given moment of time. You know me one way and each person in the picture knows me slightly differently.
Posted by Ali Al-Qallaf

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