Recollections of Family Photographs from Five Generations

Snapshots broken toys high school diaries a locketwith secret compartments for tiny photographswell-read love letters a piece of sea glassshoeboxes filled with bits of ephemera from dailylife. These were some of the objects that were partof a 2001 exhibition entitled recollections at MacyGallery Teachers College Columbia University in NewYork City. It was through this exhibition that Iexplored how objects provoke narratives in families.As a consequence of the exhibition there seemed tobe a need for further understanding of howindividuals assign meanings to their treasuredobjects particularly family snapshots. This appearedto be a worthy investigation as art educators debatethe rationale of using images from visual culture assites of inquiry in curriculum design. This bookpresents the findings of a narrative inquiry thatrelied on art-practice-as-research methodologies. Artand museum educators will find this book compellingas they come to understand how family photographs maybe used to nurture learners who recognize how theirpersonal narratives give structure to their lives andthrough which connections to broader culturalcontexts are made evident.