Visions in monochrome: Families, marriage and the individualisation thesis

This paper takes issue with the way in which the individualisation thesis – in which it is assumed that close relationships have become tenuous and fragile - has become so dominant in ‘new’ sociological theorising about family life. Although others have criticised this thesis, in this paper the main criticism derives from empirical research findings carried out with members of transnational families living in Britain whose values and practices do not fit easily with ideas of individualisation. It is argued that we need a much more complex and less linear notion of how families change across generations and in time

Photography as an act of collaboration

The camera is usually considered to be a passive tool under the control of the operator. This definition implicitly constrains how we use the medium, as well as how we look at – and what we see in – its interpretations of scenes, objects, events and ‘moments’. This text will suggest another way of thinking about – and using – the photographic medium. Based on the evidence of photographic practice (mine and others’), I will suggest that, as a result of the ways in which the medium interprets, juxtaposes and renders the elements in front of the lens, the camera is capable of depicting scenes, events and moments that did not exist and could not have existed until brought into being by the act of photographing them. Accordingly, I will propose that the affective power of many photographs is inseparable from their ‘photographicness’ – and that the photographic medium should therefore be considered as an active collaborator in the creation of uniquely photographic images

More than just a bracelet: the use of material symbolism to communicate love

There is growing recognition of the place of love in residential care for children (Smith, 2009). This paper is a critical analysis of a range of existing research on residential child care as well as studies of material culture and of care relationships more broadly. It argues that, despite increasing regulation and surveillance, adults and children find ways to show and feel love in the context of residential care. Whilst love may be regarded as something to be avoided or indeed prohibited in an adult/child care setting these deep bonds find expression in the everyday life of the children's home. By looking at love in this embodied way, the 'realness' of material things to assert connection and recognition of love (Layne, 2000) is examined. As Gorenstein (1996, p.8) suggests 'objects...[are] the perfect vehicles for conveying themes that are not commonly accepted in a community'. The paper emphasises the recognition of these symbolic and metaphorical forms of communication in practice

Helmut Gernsheim - Messa a fuoco di architettura e scultura

Questo libro nasce dal desiderio di stimolare una qualità superiore nella fotografia d’architettura e scultura rispetto a quella a cui siamo abituati». In Messa a fuoco di architettura e scultura Gernsheim manifesta il suo ruolo esplicito di fotografo e induce il lettore a una fruizione dinamica dell’esperienza architettonica e artistica. Il presente manuale, oltre a una ricca parte dedicata alla fotografia di opere scultoree inedite, contiene alcuni capitoli che ricalcano schemi e categorie tradizionali della storia della fotografia d’architettura. Nel suo approccio pragmatico esso risulta utile e convincente, e l’utilizzo di una macchina fotografica, con tutto ciò che implica in termini di operatività ed espressione, porta Gernsheim a una progressiva opera di semplificazione dell’immagine che diviene il concetto chiave intorno a cui ruotano le più accorte riflessioni sulla fotografia europea del secolo scorso