ABSTRACT
One approach to a better understanding of how personal photography and memory relate to one another is to examine how conventions of snapshot photography contribute to one's memory version of life. This broad objective requires some commentary on conventions of looking, seeing, and showing and on processes of remembering, memory-making and retention, and a broad range of photographic practices, including camera use and picture display—all in contexts of family and home life. Japan and Japanese family members will provide the setting and case studies for such an approach. The chapter aims to present an illustrated review of what Japanese family members have included in their collections of personal/family photography. It focuses on the topic component of the descriptive framework and shows that small sample of Japanese family members have expressed visually about babyhood, being a student, an employee, a tourist, and even feelings about death. In comparison, Japanese albums can be much longer than their US counterparts.
