"The Merest Novice": The Snapshot, Gender, and the Museum, 1888-2008

Abstract

This work explores the cultural role of the snapshot photograph and the evolution of its integration into the art museum. Situated at the interstices of art history, gender studies, and museum studies, the thesis considers how the perception of the snapshot as a "feminine" object developed over time and how this characterization has shaped the exhibition of this ubiquitous creative medium. The first chapter briefly lays out the history of the snapshot and its introduction as a mass medium, including ways early advertising and exhibitions struggled to define "kodakery" for multiple users. The second chapter further considers three snapshot exhibitions of the twentieth century and how each reveals ambivalence about snapshots' value and the agency of snapshooters. The third chapter considers two other exhibits of the past decade and how they recontextualize the snapshot, including both its past as a tangible, vernacular object and its digital future.