Photographs do not simply serve as visual mementos of a family's past. Through its inherent conventions the camera and its by-products, the photographic image and the family album, help to construct and perpetuate the ideology of the family whilst simultaneously acting as an equalizing force in society. The function of the family photograph does not dissolve at this point. Family photographs and snapshots also preserve ancestral history and perpetuate memories, thereby acting as a means …showed first 75 words of 1583 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1583 total…history. Although Bourdieu has demonstrated the integral connection between the ever-spreading practice of photography and the ideology of the modern family, the extent of photography's function to the family stretches further. Family photographs also play a role in the construction of memory, through its conventions and usage it provides the family with a means of forging its own means of self-representation whilst simultaneously portraying the ancient ideology of the family as a stable cohesive unit.