Turning Leaves. The Photograph Collection of Two Japanese American Families.

[from the "blurb": ]
As a modern phenomenon, the personal, social, and cultural aspects of amateur family photography have been taken for granted and rarely studied in depth. This unusual study does not represent a revolutionary departure from questions social scientists have been asking for years, it simply focuses on family photographs as a way of answering questions social scientists have been asking for years.
People from all over the world treasure their family photographs more than any other pieces of their personal material culture. The author notes that contemporary immigrant groups, especially Southeast Asians, often arrive in this country with a small collection of photographs and nothing else. Their photographs are their means for preserving their cultural heritage and identity.
In our modern age of mass media, private photographs have, in many ways, replaced the habits of writing daily diaries and personal journals or the telling of myths, legends, and stories. In the close and careful analysis of the albums of two families, the author has revealed much about the ways people from different cultures describe themselves to themselves and
future generations. The retention, continuity, and transformation of ethnic and cultural values are themes that run throughout this book.
The photographs themselves present a moving and intimate look into the lives of two extended families, one of whom settled near Los Angeles, and the other in Gallup, New Mexico. This fascinating study is for anyone interested in the universal appeal of family photographs and in the experiences of immigrants in a new land.
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Chapters:
1. Family Photograph Collections and the representation of Ethnicity ;
2. The Selection of Two Japanese American Families ;
3. George Nagano's Family Album ;
4. The Uyeda/Miyamura Photograph Collection ;
5. Exploring Identity in Japanese American Photograph Albums ;
6. Camera Cultures and Pictorial Traditions ;
7. Methods for Studying Family Photograph Collections ;
8. Kinship Cards ;
Notes ;
Bibliography ;
Index.