Photo exercise: Pairing old and new photos

Introduction

This pairing of old and new photographs is meant to be done after, or in combination with, the dialogue with old photos exercise to deepen the dialogue and to think about how the heritage and the theme under discussion can be presented in a newer photograph.

This exercise is for working with and examining old photos and pairing them with newer photos. It is facilitated discussion about the photos and memories, experiences or feelings associated within them and connecting them to a present day photo. The ideal group size for this exercise is 4–10 active participants. The idea in this exercise is to set the past and the present in a dialogue and consider heritage as an entirety, even including themselves as part of it when examining it through the photos.

This is a great exercise to use that is not very dependent on the heritage type that is being approached. This was used in the HEART project to explore villagehood thematics and it worked very well. It was used with an older group of participants and with old photos about their villagehood and related cultural heritage elements specifically, but same type of exercise could also be used with younger age groups (for example: think and discuss how and why this old photo connects to intangible cultural heritage and then connect it to a newer photograph related to it).

Overall working with photographs in this style of a workshop format is quite an open method and it can be fitted in to suit your needs depending on your target group and the photo set available. "Allow yourself into the state of not-knowing, allow yourself to learn." This kind of combination of workshops is something possible to implement into exercise and workshop ideas of your own, these exercises and workshops were thought out in a way that the dialogue part comes first to serve as the introduction and more discussion-heavy exercise to this pairing and brainstorming part. "If you have a good vibe and energy, don’t stop the exercise, as that might cut the flowing energy and ideas!"

Working with photos (dialogue and pairing) in a workshop style setting

If you are interested in external articles about working with photos specifically, we recommend you familiarize yourself for example with these articles that deal with photovoice (which is a participative visual research methodology with the intention of fostering social change, with both transformative and empowerment potential):

Pairing old and new photos

The purpose and aim(s) of this exercise

To create a plan for taking a new photo to be paired with the old photo.
Considering how the heritage is seen today, how can we present the heritage and the theme in the new photo.

How/why does this exercise enable transformative learning

The themes of intangible cultural heritage have to be questioned and examined in a different perspective.
The past and the present need to be set in dialogue.
Participants have to consider the heritage in entirety and see themselves as a part of it.
Personal aspects have to be brought up: is the heritage still alive or how do participants relate to the changes in the heritage, and do they recognize themselves as a part of it.
Art as a method gives the participants a change to use their creativity, the things we know now have to be set up in a new form by using imagination -art is a way of research, looking into things with a different way.

The ideal number of participants

As an exercise this is more like brainstorming, so it can hold up more participants.
4–10 active participants would be ideal.

Duration

The duration depends on how many new photo ideas you want to come up with, but working in this exercise is more effective as it’s brainstorming together, and you have a concrete aim.
An effective duration could be 1 hour.
If you still need more ideas, it’s good to have a break, as active brainstorming can be very intensive.
If you have a good vibe and energy, don’t stop the exercise, as that might cut the flowing energy and ideas

Materials required

The old photos chosen in previous exercise.
The list of the themes of heritage that you want to work with.
Paper and pen for making notes of the ideas and plans.

Description of the exercise step by step

Gather the participants together.
It’s not necessary to gather around table, participants can choose a place of comfort, you can gather together in more relaxed position, sitting by sofa or in the garden.
Make sure everyone can hear and participate, and if needed, seeing the notes at the same time .
Start the exercise by choosing a theme from the list, start the dialogue on this particular theme.
Lead the dialogue, ask questions, how does this theme of heritage present in the past and how does it present today.
Leaning to the conversations, think about how you could show the heritage in the new photo, and from the brainstorming together make a decision about the new photo.
Write down what will the new photo be about, where would it be taken, who would be in the photo, what you want to tell others with the content of the photo, and how will the new photo pair with the old one.
Go through the whole list the same way.
After the exercise sum up what you came up with.
Make a plan together and schedule for the photoshoots.

Other essential things

It is good for someone to take notes during the exercise because in brainstorming the ideas can come and go quickly.
This exercise is a brainstorming for the ideas for the new photos and this exercise needs to follow up with the photoshoots.

Tips to the instructor (what must be considered when doing this exercise)

Create an atmosphere of trust, so that people feel safe to say their ideas out loud.
You can do this by commenting on all ideas, at first all ideas can be written down not to forget them, make sure every idea is heard.
Let the ideas flow, first by not focusing on a single idea so much, gather all the ideas and opinions. Then you can start to narrow down and create a concrete idea and plan for the photo.
People can feel uncomfortable being photographed, remember that the photos don’t need to necessarily include people, they can be anything.
If someone feels comfortable in portrait photography, you can combine his personality and skills into the theme (for example: pairing an old photo of someone doing traditional arts with a new photo of someone who practices the same art style).