Photography as play: examining constant photographing and photo sharing among young people

Jenni Niemelä-Nyrhinen, Janne Seppänen

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)
28 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

This article considers on what grounds contemporary photography may be understood as play. This is done by tracing the common characteristics of play that are revealed in the constant photographing and photo sharing among young friends through the camera-based social media application Snapchat. The arguments are built by presenting qualitative data, consisting of saved snaps and interviews, together with existing theory of play. Snapping, as it emerges from the article’s data, aptly fits in with the theoretical notion of play mainly adopted from Winnicott’s Playing and Reality (2005[1971]) and Huizinga’s Homo Ludens: A Study of the Play-Element in Culture (1998 [1949]): the aim of snapping resides in itself; it is limited in terms of time and space; it is executed according to shared rules; it is fun, playful and enjoyable; and it is different from ‘ordinary life’. Further, it reinforces friendships through indices of togetherness, intimacy and trust. The article concludes with a discussion on the advantages of understanding current photography as play and the affordances that photographs provide for that play.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)581-599
JournalVISUAL COMMUNICATION
Volume22
Issue number4
Early online dateJul 2021
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Nov 2023
Publication typeA1 Journal article-refereed

Funding

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by Academy of Finland, 320263. There is no conflict of interest.

Keywords

  • photo sharing
  • photography
  • play
  • playfulness
  • Snapchat
  • snapshot photography

Publication forum classification

  • Publication forum level 2

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Communication
  • Visual Arts and Performing Arts

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Photography as play: examining constant photographing and photo sharing among young people'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this