Family photos: the construction of self-image in different social groups in the Campinas region

Abstract

This research investigated, in a comparative perspective, the construction of self-image in different social groups, trying to understand how the perceptions, of oneself and others, are configured in tools for the elaboration of social boundaries that guide the dynamics of the interactions between these groups, guided by differences and similarities, but, above all, by interdependent relationships. Therefore, the research selected five families, living in the district of Barão Geraldo - Campinas, SP - for at least three generations. Starting, above all, from visual reading, we tried to understand how photographic records - here understood as a sociogram - reveal a certain way of apprehending the world, of producing and reproducing actions and thoughts in the face of life and other social subjects. It was possible to conclude that (i) the different social uses and meanings given to photography in each family are revealing of the social roles and positions they occupy, as well as the social ties they establish and that (ii) the emergence of the digital camera and overproduction of images and their distribution on social networking sites contributed to these families undergoing a re-elaboration of their self-image, which points to a new way of relating to the world.