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Photography, nooks, and literacy -Brooke Wagner

Photography, nooks, and literacy -Brooke Wagner

While reading Hamilton, I struggled with the purpose of the photos being useful when studying literacy practices.  I wasn’t sure if Hamilton wants to use photographs as a means of capturing one specific moment of a literacy practice to then use to gain a better understanding of literacy events or if it was more important to focus on photography itself and how already taken photographs can be used to study our culture’s understanding of literacy.

Although this study categorizes already taken photos from other sources it seems to be using them to study a specific moment in a literacy event or an example of a literacy practice.  However, if this is their sole purpose I’m not sure what would be the benefit of using other people’s pictures opposed to taking their own.  Hamilton says, “It is only some visual traces of literacy practices that are captured in still photographs – observable, but frozen moments of a dynamic process.  Even aspects of literacy practices that seem clearly visible in events are in fact defined only in relation to cultural knowledge that the viewer brings.  It might therefore be more precise to say that all elements of practices are inferred from the images, but some with more direct visual cues than others.”  According to this quote it would seem that photos, capturing only a moment of a visual trace of a more dynamic process, would not be a particularly helpful way to study literacy unless the study included the photo taking process and what it has to say about literacy.

I wasn’t exactly sure why Hamilton chose this process, this particular manner of demonstrating and analyzing literacy practices, instead of observing them in person or recording them.  However, it was interesting to try it out myself.

The image I found this week was one of someone holding a nook with books and magazines downloaded on it as well as apps like Spotify, Words with Friends, and Angry Birds.

According to Hamilton’s basic elements of events and practices, the participant would be the faceless person holding the nook.  The artefact would be the nook itself along with the apps.  As far as activities and settings go, the image doesn’t specify, though we can presume the person holding the nook intends to or is using it.

This image says a lot of interesting things about our culture.  The nook was originally an easy way to purchase, carry and store books.  It made reading more accessible for many people.  As time went on, new functions were added.  Color made magazines more readable.  Apps were available for download.  Soon e-readers began competing with tablets.  This image shows how something designed for a very specific type of literacy grew and changed to encompass others.  The original nook required some amount of digital literacy; however, the amount necessary to operate one has increased exponentially.

More than just digital literacy, this nook opens up the question of video games and literacy.  It gives examples of games that comply with more conventional definitions of literacy such as Words with Friends, a game similar to scrabble, but also games that have literacy of their very own.  This image shows a progression of types of literacy but also, although maybe not intentionally, demonstrates how one does not necessarily take from the other.  Though the owner of the nook has games and magazines, they continue to download multiple books.  I found this to be an interesting representation of culture and our understanding of types of literacy, what they do to each other and what they do to us.

One Reply to “Photography, nooks, and literacy -Brooke Wagner”

  1. I had a very similar approach to the topic as you did. I thought you did a great job explaining Hamilton’s opinion on taking pictures and how they sometimes are not an accurate depiction of literacy. I think it is interesting that you included how the nook has evolved from a black and white reading tool, to an internet accessible gaming type of device. The progression took little to no time, and the literacy behind using a nook or tablet type of device is also to be noted. The literacy and knowledge required to use these has become second nature to us. This was an interesting take on Hamilton’s ideas, as well as adding your own opinions.

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