Abstract
Photography has long ago become entangled with everyday practices, but the twin advent of digital technology and mobile communication introduced several new dimensions to the ways in which we use photography in our daily lives. Even though old practices continue to thrive – people still use photography for the purpose of recording key moments in one’s life course – these uses now often form part of connected interactions enabled by a variety of devices, from mobile phones to computer tablets with inbuilt cameras. This edited collection sets out to chart this transformed landscape of everyday photography and seeks to unpack the key continuities and discontinuities between ‘classical’ film-based photography and contemporary, networked camera photography. To this end, the contributions move beyond the conventional focus on the image and intertwine it with the investigation of the materiality and the practices associated with digital photography. The volume comprises 17 contributions, written by a range of well-established authors as well as new entrants to the field and based on a wide range of disciplinary approaches. The first part of the book examines the different uses of everyday photography, focusing on the varieties of who uses digital photographs, where and how. The second part shifts attention to the ways in which networked camera technology changed our perceptions of, and relationships with, space and place. The third part discusses the relationship between the networked camera and the body of the photographer. The wide geographical and thematic range of case studies included in the volume, as well as the specific conceptual and analytical approaches implemented in them, should make for an engaging and instructive reading for both students and researchers interested in the intersection of digital media, image and everyday life.