From Snapshots to Social Media - The Changing Picture of Domestic Photography

From Snapshots to Social Media describes the history and future of domestic photography as mediated by technological change. Domestic photography refers to the culture of ordinary people capturing, sharing and using photographs, and is in a particular state of flux today as photos go digital. The book argues that this digital era is the third major chapter in the 170 year history of the area; following the portrait and Kodak eras of the past.

History shows that despite huge changes in photographic technology and the way it has been sold, people continue to use photographs to improve memory, support communication and reinforce identity. The future will involve a shift in the balance of these core activities and a replacement of the family album with various multimedia archives for individuals, families and communities. This raises a number of issues that should be taken into account when designing new technologies and business services in this area, including: the ownership and privacy of content, multimedia standards, home ICT infrastructure, and younger and older users of images.

The book is a must for designers and engineers of imaging technology and social media who want a better understanding of the history of domestic photography in order to shape its future. It will also be of value to students and researchers in science and technology studies and visual culture, as a fascinating case study of the evolving use of photographs and photographic technology in Western society.

From the reviews:

“This volume approaches domestic photography … from a human-computer interaction perspective, linking technology development with the business models that make this technology viable for the amateur mass market. … The application of technology management principles to domestic photography provides insights into the evolution of the role photography plays in everyday culture. … Written in clear, expository textbook style, this work expands significantly the bibliography on the history of photography into international technology and communications literature. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates and above.” (M. Nilsen, Choice, Vol. 49 (1), September, 2011)

“I found this book a delight to read, as a well-researched collection that takes the reader through domestic photography and technology … . Each chapter is self-contained and well researched, and provides comprehensive references. … If you are a visual artist or studio photographer, if you work in digital media or the Web … you will find this book engaging and helpful. Likewise, if you are engaged in research, you will find this book to be a gem.” (Alyx Macfadyen, ACM Computing Reviews, July, 2011)

Risto Sarvas is a Research Scientist working on personal media technologies in the Helsinki Institute for Information Technology HIIT, Finland. He has a doctorate in Computer Science and Engineering for the Helsinki University of Technology, TKK. His thesis was on human-centric design of metadata for snapshot photography, and it was awarded by the Finnish Information Processing Association as the best in 2006, and it was also a finalist for the ERCIM Cor Baayen Award 2007. He was a visiting scholar at the University of California, Berkeley in 2002-3. His research focuses on building new medial technology for domestic use and understanding the social implications of domestic information and communication technologies. Risto was a Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Surrey, UK, during 2009.

David Frohlich is Director of Digital World Research Centre at the University of Surrey and Professor of Interaction Design. He joined the Centre in January 2005 to establish a new research agenda on user-centered innovation for the consumer market. Prior to that he worked as Senior Research Scientist at HP Labs. He was involved in the launch of HP's very first digital photography products in 1996 and has been tracking and researching this area since then. As well as conducting numerous user studies of photographic behaviours, David has co-authored a number of digital photography patents, most notably on the combination and printing of sound with photographs. He is author of Audiophotography: Bringing Photos to Life with Sounds. David has a PhD in Psychology from the University of Sheffield and is founding editor of the international journal Personal and Ubiquitous Computing. David has also held visiting positions at the Royal College of Art and the Universities of York and Manchester.