Pictures or it didn’t happen: photo-nostalgia, iPhoneography and the representation of everyday life

Chopra-Gant, Mike (2016) Pictures or it didn’t happen: photo-nostalgia, iPhoneography and the representation of everyday life. Photography and Culture, 9 (2). pp. 121-133. ISSN 1751-4517

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Abstract / Description

This article presents an analysis of the phenomenon of “retro” digital photography, informed by aspects of postmodern theory, notably Jameson’s assertion that postmodernity is characterized by “nostalgia for the present,” and the shift toward nonessentialist conceptions of identity. The article argues for a rigorous application of these concepts and suggests that the popularity of “retro” effects used in smartphone photography represents an effort to stabilize images that are in fact immaterial and unstable; to endow the insubstantial and transitory signs by which life histories are registered with an aura of materiality and permanence.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	iPhoneography, retro, photography, Instagram, nostalgia
Subjects:	300 Social sciences 300 Social sciences > 390 Customs, etiquette & folklore 700 The arts; fine & decorative arts > 770 Photography, photographs & computer art
Department:	School of Computing and Digital Media
Depositing User:	Mike Chopra-Gant
Date Deposited:	04 Jul 2018 07:52
Last Modified:	29 Apr 2020 15:26
URI:	https://repository.londonmet.ac.uk/id/eprint/2587

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