Writing Memoirs Prompted by Family Photos

A Graphic Organizer for Writing with Family Photos

By Sandy Hébert LaBry

Summary

Inspired by two writers’ memoirs, this graphic organizer suggests ways to read photos as texts and provides prompts for writing about family photos.
Citation:
LaBry, Sandy Hébert. 2021. Writing Memoirs Prompted by Family Photos. Journal of Folklore and Education. 8:39.

The next two authors offer memoirs and family photos. Writing a memoir, capturing an episode of life with reflection on its meaning, can lead writers to explore their relationships with people, places, or things within historical context. Family photos capture many aspects of folklore, and they are a proven springboard for writing personal memoirs.

The following questions are offered as a means of gathering thoughts related to a photo prior to drafting a memoir. Interviews may be important to finding answers to these questions. There is no hierarchy of response dictating where to begin the writing.