Cultural memory and photographs

 

 

Wedding and Family Photographs as the Carriers of Cultural Memory and Cultural Change in the Post-Republican Era:Istanbul Case 

Although the date of the invention of the camera is recent, visuals are important parts in the life of people. A photograph progresses its journey in the life of the people strengthening its position despite the changes in the cultural climate and the changes in the methods of photographing and storing. A photograph belongs to the past from the very moment of its being shot. This feature is the main reason of its relationship with cultural memory. Thus, individuals and cultures looking at the photographs may, if they so wish, recall the past with visuals and accompanying narrations. This process is an active meaning generating process and helps families who are the meeting point of individual and social areas and modern cultures owning the collective feeling of 'us', to determine the objectives, wishes and needs of the cultures they belong to. In other words, the past is remembered or forgotton in accordance with objectives, needs and wishes and also reconstructed today. Photographs, which are the carriers of cultural memory, also reflect cultural changes.

The aim of this research is to evidence the relationship between cultural memory and cultural changes through wedding and family photographs. Through this study, carried out among post Republican families having received upper, upper middle and middle class establish the relationship between the photograph and cultural memory and focuses on the way of individuals and cultures store, remember their important moments and how they transmit them to next generations. It also focuses on the understanding how cultural changes are reflected in the photographs.