Mobile Phone Photography And Self Reconstruction ——A Study Of Middle-Aged And Elderly Women In K City

In the digital society,mobile phone photography is not only a way of social communication,but also an ideographic carrier to manifest personality.From the existing literature,research on mobile phone photography practice is mainly focused on the young people,while the research on the elderly is rare.In fact,the “visual social contact” triggered by photos and videos is also affecting elder people.In the current digital society,there is a special group of people who have experienced the cross-era social transformation,and been influenced by both traditional Chinese culture and shaped by modern culture.By contrast,the cross-generational imprint is more pronounced on Chinese women born in the 1950 s.This group of cross-era women in the digital society are eager to have the experience of digital life while facing the aging of their bodies.In the practice of mobile phone photography,they have acquired new photographing skills and technologies of producing photos and videos to carry out the practice of mobile phone photography,which shows unique behavioral characteristics.Based on this feature,the paper focuses on middle-aged and elderly urban women born in 1950-1960,and discusses their behavior characteristics and action logic in mobile phone photography practice.Adopting qualitative research method and combining with the specific practice of the research subjects and the relevant theories of sociology,communication and other disciplines,this paper proposes an “operational concept” — self-reconstruction.this concept means that in the digital society the retired middle-aged and elderly urban women in the process of mobile photography practice continue to re-construct their behavior,due to the impact of policy system,media technology,specific social situation and other aspects,so as to explain the behavior characteristics of research subjects in the practice of mobile photography.It is found that the self-reconstruction in the mobile phone photography practice of middle-aged and elderly urban women is mainly reflected in three aspects: image,self-worth and relationship.Firstly,image reconstruction is the basis of self-reconstruction.Through two mobile phone photographing modes—production photographing and imitative photographing,Middle-aged and elderly women reconstruct multiple images which reflect the characteristics and changes of female body expression.Combined with the behavior pattern of the subject,the characteristics of body expression and the presentation of multiple images,this paper holds that the multiple images reconstructed by middle-aged and elder women are the integration of history and modern,and reveal that they not only retain the historical culture but also “appropriate” the cultural forms of other groups.Secondly,while learning cultural knowledge and mobile phone photographing skills after retirement,this group of middle-aged and elderly women are also updating their consumption content and consumption concept.They resist the label of “Chinese Dama” and display themselves online and offline by photos and videos,thus promoting the reconstruction of their self-worth.In general,the reconstruction of self-worth is the reconstruction of the identity of the subject.Further,the changes caused by the role transformation and ideological concept transformation of middle-aged and elderly women in the relationship between self and others promote this group to have an action force acting on the relationship network—relationship reconstruction.They conduct the reconstruction through the expression of intimate relationship,the reshaping of intergenerational relationship and the expansion of social network in the practice of mobile phone photography,and obtain “emotional support” and “emotional companionship” in this process.In fact,image reconstruction,self-worth reconstruction and relationship reconstruction are the relations that affect each other and run in a cycle,and mobile phone photography is also a dynamic process in which many factors involve in practice.Therefore,this paper holds that the self-reconstruction of middle-aged and elderly women in the practice of mobile photography is the result of the interaction between institutional policies,social structures,media technologies and individuals.In conclusion,the life experiences of middle-aged and elderly urban women born in1950-1960 are closely related to ideology,national macro policy,social system and social structure,and the self-reconstruction shows the unique behavior of this group in the practice of mobile phone photography due to the influence of ideology,system policy,social structure and specific communication situation.As the subject experience of specific groups in Chinese context,the self-reconstruction in mobile phone photography of middle-aged and elderly women reflects the changes of the Times.On the other hand,compared with young people,middle-aged and elderly women are not in an advantageous position in the digital social structure.In addition,due to the lack of institutional “re-embedding” after retirement,they can only rely on individuals for social participation to a large extent.This realistic dilemma and the increasingly updated digital society interact with each other,which enables the group to generate the driving force of self-reconstruction and internalize it into the action of the subject.Self-reconstruction is the “survival strategy” for middle-aged and elderly women to cope with digital difficulties in the digital society,which helps individuals to participate in the digital society and construct the sense of belonging for individuals and groups.