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Art 133 Article
Art 133 Article
Art 133 Article
Kristin Baxter
To cite this article: Kristin Baxter (2012) The Role of Family Snapshots in Teaching Art History
Within a Dialogic Pedagogy, Art Education, 65:1, 11-18
Article views: 26
Download by: [California State University Sacamento] Date: 07 November 2017, At: 14:11
The Role of
Family Snapshots
in Teaching Art History
Downloaded by [California State University Sacamento] at 14:11 07 November 2017
H
ow can educators use dialogic teaching strategies to build
connections between artworks and life experiences of
students in a survey art history course? Can stories repre-
sented in ones family snapshots facilitate dialogue about formal content
and conceptual issues present in works of art in museums? My interest
in understanding if discussions of snapshots could facilitate students
insights into works of art was prompted, in part, by the work of historian
Julia Hirsch (1981). She investigates meanings of family photographs
by comparing twentieth-century snapshots of mothers and children,
weddings, and homes to works from art history, such as a fourth century
B.C. Roman marble stele depicting a wedding ceremony, Robert Campins
Annunciation triptych (Merode Altarpiece) (1427-32), and a documentary
photographic portrait from 1866 by Solomon Butcher depicting Nebraska
homesteaders. Hirsch argues, we still treasure paintings and create photo-
graphs which relate, no matter how tenuously, to ancient metaphors of
family unity and cohesion: we still seem to acknowledge the values we
have shed (1981, p. 28, 32).
Studying images of families in works of art and in snapshots is compel-
ling, and I further wondered if looking at both types of images side by
side might help students understand both kinds of images more fully.
Snapshots often prompt detailed and vivid stories among family members
and friends. Therefore, I wondered if dialogue about snapshots could be
used, in an introductory art history course, as a springboard to discussing
related works of art with students who are sometimes reluctant to fully
participate in group discussions.
including three classroom sessions and the works of art. Dialogic questioning was
Other researchers argue that family three all-day meetings at museums. It is a inspired by what McKay and Monteverde
photographs and the stories associated with survey of art history, beginning with the (2003) call dialogic looking. By this they
them are primary sources of information study of Ancient Egyptian art through mean, viewers consciously articulate the
about cultural systems, social practices, and contemporary American art. In the spring questions that arise while they look (p. 42).
family/community histories (Akeret, 1991; of 2008, we visited the Brooklyn Museum, Dialogic questions have three parts, each
Barrett, 1996; Cronin, 1996, 1998; Geffroy, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Whitney part based on observations and each part
1990; Lowenthal, 1985; Walker & Moulton, Museum of American Art, and the Newark building on the next. They are grounded in
1989). In addition, researchers maintain that Museum. Through PowerPoint slide formal analysis, they ask viewers to create
family photographs and associated narra- presentations during the classroom sessions, meaning based on visual evidence, and
tives reveal interconnections between public we studied the historical and cultural they connect to viewers life experiences.
historical events and personal memory, significance of the works of art we would be Students are first asked, Describe the image.
have communal and personal purposes viewing the following day in the museums What do you see? In doing so, the group
(Blomgren, 1999; Kuhn, 1995; Zelevansky, and considered related snapshots from my acknowledges formal qualities of the work
1998; Zuromskis, 2006), and show potential own and my students collections. Students of art, allowing each person to point out
for improving family functioning if used in were instructed to bring in snapshots that things he or she sees. Dialogic questions,
therapeutic settings (Kobbe, 1993). At the had conceptual and/or compositional based also on the visual thinking strategies
same time, by imagining what cultural prac- connections to the works of art that we developed by Housen and Yenawine (2001),
tices are not represented in a collection of studied in class and would be viewing the then asked students to probe for meanings
family photographs, one can speculate what following day in the museums. and make interpretations, such as Whats
is considered culturally taboo or mundane going on in this picture?, What do you see
Prior to taking my class, I visited each
(Beloff, 1985; Duncum, 1996; Holland, that makes you say that?, Why do you say
of the museums on my own to select the
1991). that?, and What else do you see? Finally,
works of art that we would be studying. The
questions were posed that asked students to
The ubiquity of snapshots in daily life, the rationale for selecting the works of art was to
make connections between the work of art
cultural value they hold, and my own studio provide students with a survey of the history
and students life experiences, such as When
art practice that incorporates the use of these of art focusing on iconic works in each
have you found yourself in this situation?
images (Baxter, Lopez, Serig, & Sullivan, museums collection. In addition, I selected
If you were the artist, how might you have
2008) prompted my dissertation research on works that represented familiar themes
responded to this idea? What would you add
the educational potential of family snap- or activities, such as family portraiture,
or change?
shots, particularly for art education (Baxter, travel, people at work, homes, and funerals.
2009, 2005a, 2005b). This research explored Table 1 was included in the syllabus and After discussing these questions while
how individuals organized, coded, and made indicates the works of art that we studied viewing works of art in the galleries, I then
meaning of experience through material/ at each museum, along with the kinds of asked students similar questions in relation
visual culture, especially family snapshots. photographs that students were to bring to to their snapshots. Students were asked to
Though I propose a theoretical rationale class and to the museums. Students brought describe their snapshots and the personal
for using family snapshots within a visual framed pictures that they took right off their meanings they hold. Then they were asked
culture approach to art education, putting dorm room walls; others were digital photo- what formal or conceptual characteristics
theories to practical use in the classroom graphs that the students printed off on copier were shared between the work of art and
lay outside the scope of this earlier research. paper; still others were traditional snapshot snapshot. Finally, I asked, How might
Therefore, this current research addresses prints. understanding your snapshot help us under-
that limitation. stand the work of art? The purpose of using
Class discussions both on campus and
snapshots with conceptual and/or compo-
This article presents evidence that in the museums were tape-recorded and
sitional connections to works of art was to
dialogue is essential in the creation of transcripts were made. After reviewing the
encourage dialogue in galleries and to build
meaning, as students make critical observa- transcripts and reading reflective papers
connections between artworks and the life
tions between works of fine art and their the students wrote after each museum visit,
experiences of the students.
personal family snapshots. In doing so, I identified two outcomes of using family
Museum, we discussed Miwa Yanagis, Yuka, Ive known since I was two, three years
on Christmas Eve all the time and so its
from My Grandmothers series (2000) (Figure old. We grew up on the same block and
kinda like how they all came together
1). This Chromogenic print depicts a woman we still keep in touch. And I just see
for the party [the women represented at with shocking red hair holding a cigarette myself going back there in the future
the Dinner Party], theyre all different in one hand and riding in a sidecar of a and that still being part of my life. It
people and they all bring something motorcycle. The motorcycle is soaring across was part of my life, and I look forward
different to the table but they still come a bridge, which recedes deeply into the to it being part of my future. And when
together for joint purpose. Were all background. Both the woman and the driver
I looked at this, I was like Wow, all these
really different people but we all come of the motorcycle, a man appearing much
younger than the woman, smile broadly as memories automatically came back.
together. (excerpt from transcript,
they whisk across the frame. For the My (excerpt from transcript, discussion
discussion at the Brooklyn Museum,
Grandmothers series, Yanagi asked young at the Brooklyn Museum, February 2,
February 2, 2008)
women to describe the types of women they 2008)
Another student brought in a photograph might become in the next 50 years. Inspired Yanagis image represents a future based
of the elementary school classroom where by the womens descriptions, Yanagi created on imagination and fantasy. Danielles
she completed her student teaching. She photographs of fictitious grandmothers. snapshot represents a hoped-for future, but
explained that the women represented in In that sense, the photographs illustrate that future is based on real memories of
Chicagos Dinner Party, were all making a imagined, future biographies. the past. The student recognized, through
difference in the world that they were living
During classroom discussions in prepara- dialogue, that experiences as a child, were
in. So I feel like thats what I want to do. I
tion for our visit to the Brooklyn Museum, part of my life and I look forward to it being
want to teach and make a difference in the
we studied the formal content and concep- part of my future. Dialogue is essential
world (excerpt from transcript, discussion at
tual concerns of Yanagis photograph. I in the creation of meaning, as the student
the Brooklyn Museum, February 2, 2008).
invited them to bring a snapshot to the saw conceptual connections between her
Using dialogic questions to stimulate museum that represented something they snapshot and Yanagis photograph. In
meaning-making led to a discussion of why hoped for themselves in the next 50 years. doing so, the student has internalized and
Chicago placed the women in the order she The snapshot need not have compositional constructed personal meanings about the
did at her table and why she selected the connections to Yanagis, but it might have work of fine art, using her family snapshot
women she did. Students also suggested that similar conceptual interests, such as the as a vehicle. Similarly, she has internalized
if all of the historical women were indeed representation of a wish for ones future. and constructed personal and rich meanings
present at Chicagos Dinner Party, they One student brought in a picture of herself about her snapshot, using the work of fine art
probably would not have gotten along. This at the age of two (Figure 2), standing as a medium. Therefore, the act of creating
conversation then led back to the students and looking squarely at the camera; its meaning from the work of fine art through
snapshots. Having the snapshots allowed a composition and formal qualities are much the discussion of snapshots is a reflexive act
way in or an introduction into a discussion different than Yanagis photograph. Yet (Dewey, 1934; McKay & Monteverde, 2003).
of Chicagos conceptually rich and multi- they do share conceptual connections. The Through this act, the individuals method of
layered installation. The snapshots and the student described how the photo not only meaning-making is revealed.1
The student has internalized and constructed personal meanings about the
work of fine art, using her family snapshot as a vehicle. Similarly, she has
internalized and constructed personal and rich meanings about her snapshot,
using the work of fine art as a medium.
Figure 1. Miwa Yanagi, Yuka, from the My Grandmothers series (2000), Chromogenic print on Plexiglas, mounted on aluminum.
Used with permission of the artist and Yoshiko Isshiki Office.
Figure 2. Danielle Bussani at age two. Family snapshot. Collection of Danielle Bussani.
Used with permission.
of family photographs from five Cronin, O. (1996). The meaning and snaps: The meanings of domestic Zelevansky, P. (1998). The family life of
Generations: The role of narrative and psychological significance of family photography (pp. 1-14). London: commonplace images. Unpublished
reflexivity in organizing experience. photographic collections. Unpublished Virago Press. doctoral dissertation, Teachers
Unpublished doctoral disserta- doctoral dissertation, University of Housen, A. & Yenawine, P. (2001). College Columbia University.
tion. Teachers College Columbia Southampton, United Kingdom. Visual thinking strategies: Zuromskis, C. (2006). Intimate expo-
University, New York, NY. Cronin, O. (1998). Psychology and Understanding the basics. Retrieved sures: The private and public lives of
Baxter, K. (2005b). Recollections photographic theory. In J. Prosser from www.vtshome.org/pages/ snapshot photography. Unpublished
of family photographs from five (Ed.), Image-based research: A source- vts-downloads. doctoral dissertation, University of
generations: The role of narrative book for qualitative researchers (pp. Kobbe, A. (1993). Exhibition of family Rochester.
and reflexivity in organizing experi- 69-83). London: Falmer Press. photos: Influence of photographic
ence. Art Education Dissertation Dewey, J. (1934). Art as experience. orientation, meaning of family
Monographs, 1, 53-61. New York: Perigee Books. photos, and individual variables.
Baxter, K. (2009). Recollections of family Duncum, P. (1996, Autumn). From Unpublished doctoral dissertation,
photographs from five Generations: Seurat to snapshots: What the visual The University of Tennessee.
The role narrative and reflexivity in arts could contribute to education. Kuhn, A. (1995). Family secrets: Acts of
organizing experience. Saarbrcken, Australian Art Education, 19(2), memory and imagination. New York:
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ENDNOTES
1 I thank artist and researcher, Clare Humphries,
for suggesting that not only are works of fine art
understood through connections to personal
experiences, but perhaps in doing so, the
students personal ways of meaning-making are
also revealed and understood.
2 The author wishes to thank one of the reviewers
for this suggestion.
Authors Note
The author wishes to thank Elizabeth Vallance,
Clare Humphries, Chizuru Kaplan, and Jan
Ciganick for their support in the preparation of
this article, and the students in the spring 2008
course, Exploring the Great Museums of New
York, at Fairleigh Dickinson University.