Snap! what South African children photograph : a study of the photographic behaviour of children at three age levels.

Abstract

This study focused on the kinds of photographs taken by twelve South African children at three different age levels (namely seven, eleven and fifteen). The children were given cameras which they used over a weekend to photograph any content of their choice. The children were then interviewed, both individually as well as in groups to discuss their photographs and experiences. The photographs were used as a trigger to explore children's development, sense of self and social worlds. Traditional developmental theory was useful in accounting for some of the differences in photographic ability of the different age groups but further thick description was possible using sociocultural theories of cognition, theories of the self, identity and representation. The researcher concluded that the children's understanding ofthemselves, the people and world around them as well as photography, is constructed by important social, cultural and historical forces which surround the children.