Abstract

Photographic portraits of loved ones, according to Benjamin, offer “a last refuse for the cult value of the picture” (Benjamin, 1935, VI). Mechanically produced and reproducible, the photograph as a memorial is still trusted to carry ‘identity’ and ‘truth’ from one historical moment to the next. But does the same hold true for the digital portrait? Digital images produced by the hundreds seem to expire almost simultaneously with the “captured” moment. The former insistence on the realism, immutability, and the time-defying capacities of the image, is now replaced by an interest in the photographic act as a fun performance or a game. Personal experiences are spontaneously transformed into photo shoot sessions – photographic events, which intercede and displace the present to create its ‘future-friendly’ look. On the backdrop of an evolving medium, my presentation will discuss consumer usage of digital photography in terms of motivation, production routines, and meaning making techniques. As it is my purpose to examine the changing structure of photographic self-narratives, I focus on representations of leisure activities and “fun” as the most characteristic component of contemporary self-portrayals. My conclusions are derived from the semiotic analysis of a 1920 family photograph and a photographic sequence posted on Flickr. The perceivable shift in visual aesthetic and vocabulary from traditional to contemporary photographic self-narration demonstrates a change in our relationship to the medium, but also becomes an indication for a changing relationship to self. Hence, the questions emerge: what is the form and function of a personal narrative which is disinterested in authenticity and memory; and what are the implications of the digital environment on the construction and sustenance of identity?