There have never been so many images created and, thanks to social network platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, never have they been circulated in such a diffuse way as they are today. Behind this generalized observation which is somewhat true for all societies, there is, nevertheless, a hidden, multifaceted world. What do people photograph? To what end? What kind of rules, conventions, and restrictions are followed? With whom do they share their pictures and why? What role does mobile photography play in their daily lives? The answers to these questions are much more complex than a widespread “compulsion” to photograph and must be sought in the specificity of social and cultural contexts. In this paper, I will reflect upon the contemporary proliferation of digital images, taking into account a case study of mobile photography among African asylum seekers living in reception centers in Northern Italy. After presenting the central role that smartphones play in their everyday lives, I will propose an analysis of the portraits they post on Facebook. Finally, I will make some concluding remarks on what we might call their “Facebook culture”. My findings draw on fieldwork I conducted in 2017 and 2018, using the anthropological methods of qualitative interviews and (online and offline) participant observation.
About the presenterGiovanna Santanera
Giovanna Santanera is a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Milan-Bicocca. She holds a PhD in cultural anthropology at the University of Milan-Bicocca and at the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences, in Paris. While her dissertation focuses on video production, urban life and youth cultures in Cameroon, her current research project investigates smartphone practices among African asylum seekers in Italy. She has published on African video cultures, popular culture, mobile-photography, and migration.