American Wedding Albums: a Case Study

Wedding photography is an area of vernacular studies that receives surprisingly little scholarly attention. This thesis explores the material culture of wedding photography, with a specific focus on the analysis of the wedding album in terms of presentation and consumption by families from the 1950s to the 1980s. The main section of this thesis provides an examination of selected wedding album owners. This case study contains a collection of oral histories from seven individuals on their experiences with presenting and displaying their wedding photographs. The analysis provides qualitative research on the production, organization, and consumption of the wedding album as a popular medium for exhibiting wedding photographs. In addition, this thesis offers some social and historical context on the development of the wedding album and wedding photography.