Children as Photographers

An Analysis of Children's Photographic Behaviour and Intentions at Three Age Levels

Bibliographic Data

ID12700487
AuthorsMike Sharples (0000-0001-7081-3320, Kodak/Royal Academy of Engineering Educational Technology Research Group, University of Birmingham, corresponding author), Laura Davison (Oxford Brookes University, corresponding author), Glyn V Thomas (University of Birmingham, corresponding author), Paul Rudman (Kodak (France), corresponding author), Paul D Rudman (Kodak/Royal Academy of Engineering Educational Technology Research Group, University of Birmingham)
Year2003
Volume2
Issue3
Pages303-330
Publication date2003-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueVisual Communication (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1470-3572 • E-ISSN: 1741-3214
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/14703572030023004
OpenAlexW2097753300
LanguageEN
Citations received25
References cited8

We report a systematic study of children as photographers at three age levels across five European countries. 180 children, aged 7, 11 and 15, were given single-use cameras and asked to use them in any way they pleased over a weekend. The children were then interviewed about their photographs and the process of taking them. The photographs and related commentary were analysed by means of specially developed coding schemes for image content and photographer's intentions. The study has identified marked differences in children's understanding, behaviour and intentions as photographers across the three age groups. These have been described from interactional, socio-cultural and control perspectives. Children across the age groups showed an increasing ability to distinguish the properties of the image from the world it represents, and a developing reflective awareness of the equipment, the surroundings, the image and the effect of the act of photography on others. The older children were generally scathing of adults' attempts to produce posed idealized images and they valued authenticity and informality rather than technical proficiency. Thus, children are not simply apprentice adult photographers, but exhibit distinctive intentions and products that vary with age

Age groups · Apprenticeship · Art · Coding (social sciences · Developmental psychology · Photography · Social science · Sociology · Visual arts · Art Education and Development · Children's Rights and Participation · Demography · History · Participatory Visual Research Methods · Psychology

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