This study examines the ways in which the photograph is an act of performance. Not only does the photograph serve as a photograph for its audience, the photograph's viewer uses the photograph to perform for his or herself. This relationship between photograph and viewer is most often explored within the family unit. Ritualized family performances are those events where a family narrative is written photographically. This study explores this family dynamic of photography and performance through autobiographic reference to the author's own familial performances when her parents died in 2002 and 2003, respectively. Through the creation and public performance of her narratives surrounding the performances of grief that surrounded her family photographs, the author argues for the public creation of a three-dimensional memory, compared to the two-dimensional memory of the traditional photograph.
","abstract_html":"<p>This study examines the ways in which the photograph is an act of performance. Not only does the photograph serve as a photograph for its audience, the photograph's viewer uses the photograph to perform for his or herself. This relationship between photograph and viewer is most often explored within the family unit. Ritualized family performances are those events where a family narrative is written photographically. This study explores this family dynamic of photography and performance through autobiographic reference to the author's own familial performances when her parents died in 2002 and 2003, respectively. Through the creation and public performance of her narratives surrounding the performances of grief that surrounded her family photographs, the author argues for the public creation of a three-dimensional memory, compared to the two-dimensional memory of the traditional photograph.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Darnell, Amy Lynn"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Doctor of Philosophy","degree_level":"Campus Only Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Speech Communication","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Stucky, Nathan"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2009,"date_issued":"2009-05-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2009-05-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:33:39Z","subjects":["Auto-performance","Cinema","Memory","Performance Studies","Photographs","Photography"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/dissertations/304","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Stucky, Nathan"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Darnell, Amy Lynn"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2011-06-01T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Speech Communication"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Campus Only Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Philosophy"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Auto-performance","Cinema","Memory","Performance Studies","Photographs","Photography"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/dissertations/304"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This study examines the ways in which the photograph is an act of performance. Not only does the photograph serve as a photograph for its audience, the photograph's viewer uses the photograph to perform for his or herself. This relationship between photograph and viewer is most often explored within the family unit. Ritualized family performances are those events where a family narrative is written photographically. This study explores this family dynamic of photography and performance through autobiographic reference to the author's own familial performances when her parents died in 2002 and 2003, respectively. Through the creation and public performance of her narratives surrounding the performances of grief that surrounded her family photographs, the author argues for the public creation of a three-dimensional memory, compared to the two-dimensional memory of the traditional photograph.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Pencils of Light: Family, Photography, and Performance"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Stucky, Nathan"],"dc:creator":["Darnell, Amy Lynn"],"dc:date.available":["2011-06-01T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["This study examines the ways in which the photograph is an act of performance. Not only does the photograph serve as a photograph for its audience, the photograph's viewer uses the photograph to perform for his or herself. This relationship between photograph and viewer is most often explored within the family unit. Ritualized family performances are those events where a family narrative is written photographically. This study explores this family dynamic of photography and performance through autobiographic reference to the author's own familial performances when her parents died in 2002 and 2003, respectively. Through the creation and public performance of her narratives surrounding the performances of grief that surrounded her family photographs, the author argues for the public creation of a three-dimensional memory, compared to the two-dimensional memory of the traditional photograph.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/dissertations/304"],"dc:subject":["Auto-performance","Cinema","Memory","Performance Studies","Photographs","Photography"],"dc:title":["Pencils of Light: Family, Photography, and Performance"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Speech Communication"],"thesis:degree_level":["Campus Only Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Philosophy"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:33:39Z"}