Each Wednesday, I write a post from my dissertation. We live in a culture that focuses on the pretty. Fashion magazines are devoted to teaching us how to decorate our outside selves. Home improvement and decorating shows are devoted to … Continue reading
Each Wednesday, I write a post from my dissertation. In my study, I found that redoing a scrapbook page is rare. One scrapbooker talks about how she redid one layout three times before giving up on it. She does not … Continue reading
Each Wednesday, I write a post from my dissertation. Many scrapbookers, if not most, edit photographs in one way or another. Photographs are edited from the beginning—when the photographer decides to take a photograph, something else remains unphotographed—to the end—when … Continue reading
Each Wednesday, I write a post from my dissertation. Scrapbooks contain narratives about the past. These narratives to some extent “must be fictionalized in order for us to make sense of our lives … in order to survive” (Mavor 1997:115). … Continue reading
Each Wednesday, I write a post from my dissertation. According to Katherine Ott (2006) in The Scrapbook in American Life, “no scrapbook can present meaning without the collaboration of a reader, yet no reader (aside from the scrapbook maker) knows … Continue reading
Each Wednesday, I write a post that is from my dissertation. If you believe the media, we live in a divided world, however, scrapbooking brings people together. People are brought together as they share albums with one another. They are … Continue reading
Each Wednesday, I write a post that is from my dissertation. People scrapbook because it is relaxing and fun, for the future, and to socialize with other people. Some people scrapbook simply to organize their photographs. Once their photos are … Continue reading
Each Wednesday, I write a post that is from my dissertation. Scrapbooking can be a social activity. Through scrapbooking, people are able to socialize in obvious ways, such as scrapbooking with other people. Scrapbooking, however, is also a way to … Continue reading
After last Tuesday’s post about how I select photos for a layout, a friend commented: “Thanks! It raised a few other questions, like, how do you decide what goes into what book (I know, some are obvious, but for me … Continue reading
Each Wednesday, I write a post that is from my dissertation. Though plenty of people scrapbook because it is relaxing and fun, most scrapbookers also have the future in mind when they decide to scrapbook. For some, a primary goal … Continue reading
Stephanie Medley-Rath is a sociologist and scrapbooker who studies scrapbooking and memory keeping. Scrapworthy Lives is a blog focused on her sociological analysis of scrapbooking, with a sprinkling of posts about Stephanie's own scrapbooking projects.
