Class, culture and perception: photographing to reveal an intercultural process
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Abstract
Using photographs taken by urban and suburban students , this heuristic qualitative study explored the question, "What will a person reveal of his or her personal and cultural 'frame of reference' through photographing in familiar and unfamiliar environments and then discussing the photographs they created. " The theoretical basis for the research methodology focused upon the nature of signification in photographs; the intentionality of the photographer; the context of photographing; and the context of interpreting the photographs. Within the context of an elected course in intercultural communication, six high school students from two different cultural settings, urban and suburban, took up to sixty photographs in each of four environments. They analyzed their own results through journal notations and both group and individual interviews . The use of autobiographical photography did disclose aspects of personal and cultural " frames of reference ". Whether it reveals aspects not possible in other techniques totally dependent upon words remains problematic . This study has introduced a methodology with a theoretical base which begins to lay claim to answering that autobiographical photography may be used to reveal meanings both personal and shared and consequently the personal and cultural ''frames of reference " of the photographer. This study is only one beginning of the application of that methodology. The case studies revealed an elastic quality to the cultural and personal charcteristics of the participants. During the study the students expressed an acceptance of the other environment's inhabitants as being partners in humanity. Attitudes identified at the start of the project concerning other environments seem to change during the project , yet , returned at the end to a position close to their origin. This quality of cultural elasticity is a defined direction for further study .
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Dissertation (Ed.D.)--Boston University
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