Digital photographic practices as expressions of personhood and identity: variations across school leavers and recent retirees

Figures & data

TABLE 1. Qualitative ethnographic methods used.

Qualitative Method	Description of Method	Data Collected
Semi-structured interview	One-on-one interviews lasting 1.5–2 h. Interview included questions about: Online life before and after their recent life transition Electronic devices, sites, and services commonly used Online privacy and speculations on the future of technology A visit to a location where participants kept photos (most often Facebook, but sometimes Instagram or the camera roll of their phone) to discuss photo taking and sharing to ask participants to categorise the types of photos they took, in their own words	30 interview transcripts 30 sets of interview notes Photos from Facebook that, in the participants’ view, represented a category of photos that they took
Participant observation	Informal conversations with individuals about technology use, and observations of technology use in public places in the city where the research took place	Field notes pertaining to young and older adults

TABLE 2. Participant demographics.

Group	Male	Female	Mean age (range)	Average time between transition and interview (range)	Career area
Young Adults	8	7	19.7 years (18–23)	2.6 years (0.7–5.6)^a	Direct to work (4)
					Direct to University (4)
					Work & attending University (7)
Older Adults	8	7	64.8 years (59–70)	3.6 years (1–10)	Health care (3)
					Social work (3)
					Education (2)
					Civil Engineering (2)
					Customer Service (2)
					Law/Property Management (2)^b
					Publishing (1)

^aIn the UK, secondary school begins at age 11, and students may choose to leave school at any time after they are 16, or remain in school for one or two more years to undertake further study that prepares them for University or employment.

^bFrequently seen together in the UK; the participants were a solicitor and a chartered surveyor.

TABLE 3. Young adult and retiree descriptions of photos taken.

Researcher-developed category used in categorisation exercise	Young Adults description(s) of the category	Retiree description(s) of the category
Art	Own or friend’s art	Own or spouse’s art
		Buildings & history
Attitudes & Beliefs
Family & Pets	Family	Family, grandchildren & pets
	Holiday (friends or family)	Old photos of self or family
Food	Food or Drinks	Food
Friends & Peer Relationships	Night out with friends	Friends
Holiday & Travel	Holiday (friends or family)	On holiday
		Buildings & history
Parties & Celebrations	Birthdays, Halloween, Parties	Celebrations or special events
Personal Style and Self Image	Leaving school, volunteering, work	Work or volunteering
	Baby or embarrassing photos	Old photos of self or family
	Me with…or Me at…	Me with…
Sports & Activities	Activities	Sport and Activities
	Items bought or received	Documenting things
	Funny	Funny/daft things
	Views and fireworks	Scenery, views & flowers
	Zoo photos	Birds & Wildlife
		Health issues
	Something has happened

FIGURE 1. How photos were categorised by 22 young adult participants (n = 850 photos). Participants could choose more than one photo category to describe a photo.

FIGURE 2. (a) Personal style and self image: Leaving School (Participant Kirsty18); (b) Personal style and self image: Work (Participant John69); (c) Parties & Celebrations (categorisation exercise).

FIGURE 3. (a) Friends (categorisation exercise); (b) Food (categorisation exercise); (c) Something has Happened (Participant Rebecca21); (d) Buildings & History (Participant Moira63).