The nature of your own photographic gaze…

When considering which images from my childhood that I should use throughout my project, I had to also consider the accepted norms of today’s viewers. 

Images, which for me are normal, from my childhood in the 1970s may not be acceptable in wider circles today. Consider the image below:

My sister and I are on the beach and enjoying the sweets that we were given. These were typical sweets for us as kids. However, these are candy cigarettes. I am not sure that society today would look fondly on this image of children with cigarettes. It would distract from the intention of the images I want to create and place the focus and discussion on the rights and wrongs of norms in the 1970s. Indeed there are many images from the 70s and before where smoking is quite normal, but maybe not so well accepted these days especially around children.

Another photograph that I have also chosen to leave out of my project is one where the little girl in the image with my friend and I has no swimming costume! It was very normal in my childhood that kids below a certain age just went naked, something that is pretty much not acceptable in today’s society. I felt again that wider discussion around rights and wrongs of small children being naked in public would distract from the narrative that I was looking to create. 

These taboos we create ourselves from our societal influences and upbringings. However one must carefully consider this in the wider context of how our images will be read and received.

When choosing what to include, I also have to consider which images I would include and why. I need to chose to include images that I think people will have a strong emotional connection to.