Picturing Identity: A Visual Narrative of a Female Nontraditional Student

Abstract

Documentary photography as visual research creates a deeper understanding of an individual's identity by capturing decisive moments that highlight distinctive characteristics that make people unique. Individuals do not always communicate all parts of their identity, such as their religion, class, family status, and profession, but with a camera those aspects of identity can be captured. This visual narrative presents the identity of a nontraditional female African American student enrolled at a Midwestern university guided by the interpretation of the theoretical structure of Hecht's Communication Theory of Identity. The intersectionality of the personal, enacted, relational, and communal frames of identity were visually explored through the method of documentary photography captured over an academic year.

Acknowledgment

This research was submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Communication at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ryan Henriksen

Ryan Henriksen is a photographer at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington. He received his A.A. in Visual Journalism from Brooks Institute, his B.S. in Photojournalism from Ohio University, and his M.A. in Communication from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. He has worked for National Geographic Magazine, The Virginian-Pilot, The Dallas Morning News, the Columbia Daily Tribune, and has also been published by The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, M le Magazine du Monde, Reuters, The Huffington Post, The Globe and Mail, The Daily Telegraph, Education Week, AARP Bulletin, and The Denver Post. He has given lectures and conducted workshops around the United States and India. E-mail: [email protected]