Children as Photographers: An Analysis of Children's Photographic Behaviour and Intentions at Three Age Levels

Abstract

We report a systematic study of children as photographers at three age levels across five European countries. 180 children, aged 7, 11 and 15, were given single-use cameras and asked to use them in any way they pleased over a weekend. The children were then interviewed about their photographs and the process of taking them. The photographs and related commentary were analysed by means of specially developed coding schemes for image content and photographer's intentions. The study has identified marked differences in children's understanding, behaviour and intentions as photographers across the three age groups. These have been described from interactional, socio-cultural and control perspectives. Children across the age groups showed an increasing ability to distinguish the properties of the image from the world it represents, and a developing reflective awareness of the equipment, the surroundings, the image and the effect of the act of photography on others. The older children were generally scathing of adults' attempts to produce posed idealized images and they valued authenticity and informality rather than technical proficiency. Thus, children are not simply apprentice adult photographers, but exhibit distinctive intentions and products that vary with age.