The StudyThe Study

- Explores 3 neighbourhoods in New York City, varying in socio-economic status

- Examines the presence and presentation of family photographs in the household

- Finds strong similarities in the patterns of presentation, representing the fragility of the modern day American Dream…

Family Photos in Every HomeFamily Photos in Every Home

Virtually every home visited has an abundance of family photographs

Halle concludes on the notion that the more memories of your family captured in leisure the better

Repetitive Subject Repetitive Subject MatterMatter

Absence of non-kin

Shallow family history

Moments of leisure

Absence of non-kinAbsence of non-kin

Others un-related to family are not presented in home.

If they are included in a photograph, it is usually in a context that further highlights the strength of the family unit (ex. A nanny or caregiver with members of the family)

Shallow family historyShallow family history

Subjects are only the mother, father, and children (with the occasional family dog)

Reflects the generation’s distance from older kin on account of financial independence and prosperity

The American DreamThe American Dream

Built upon the idea that life is enjoyed through pleasurable moments with your family

Vacations, leisure, and recreational activities are the setting for overwhelming number of photographs

The Fragility of the The Fragility of the DreamDream

Divorce

Geographic Mobility

Denial through Denial through photographic photographic presentationpresentation

Never is there a photograph of a household member’s divorced spouse

Photographs presented in clusters, with hardly any “solitaries” for fear of representing failure to sustain relationships.

“By clustering family photographs and omitting any hint of aloneness families may be reassuring themselves and others of a longed for permanence.” (228)

Case StudyCase Study

Peter Menzel’s “Material World”

A study of the ways in which families in different cultures utilize and decorate their homes

Argues against the idea that the more things you have, the happier you are.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/worldbalance/material.html