Content Analysis of 51 Stillbirth Memento Photographs

Research into stillbirth memento photography shows the practice to be welcomed by the bereaved. The visual attributes and content of stillbirth memento photographs are yet to be rigorously analysed however, representing a significant gap in current understanding. This study seeks to address this. 51 professionally produced stillbirth memento photographs have been sampled, anonymised and analysed. Using a content analysis methodology, imagery was characterised by aesthetic and semantic properties. The content analysis identified four distinctive image tropes in the sample: images of mother, father and baby, with the baby being held and the parents touching; macro photography of the baby; portrait photographs of babies lying alone with little or no physical trauma evident; and images of a parent, usually the mother, cradling the baby. The focus of the study is on the imagery produced by professional photographers for the bereaved following the death of their baby. The study seeks to measure and evaluate the content of these photographs. Primary data has been drawn from publicly available photographs that were published on websites and social media. Imagery has been collated from a range of sources to ensure the sample is representative and not the product of one photographer or of a specific charity’s guidelines (such as Remember My Baby). Imagery has only been used where explicit consent for publication was listed. The imagery is not reproduced and has been anonymised, but is available to access via hyperlinks in the results database. The semantic analysis of this study seeks to measure who was included in the photographs, in terms of their relationship to the baby, and how they engage with one another (and the camera) as expressed through position, gesture, proximity and gaze. This coding is designed to identify inferred social relationships, as measured through the frequency and correlation of visual markers and motifs associated with familial and social identity. Aesthetic attributes have been categorised according to visual qualities specific to photography. These relate to what is included or excluded from the image, point of view, how closely the main subject is cropped, image format, exposure length, the application of blur and sharpness within the image as a result of depth of field and colour saturation. The delineation of aesthetic attributes and semantic content is, on occasion, arbitrary and there is inevitably cross over; the background, for example, is an aesthetic property of the photograph, but is also rich with semantic information. As a result, the coding used reflects some rationalisation of aesthetic and semantic criteria.现有针对死产纪念摄影（stillbirth memento photography）的研究显示，该摄影形式深受丧亲群体的认可与接纳。然而，目前尚未有针对死产纪念摄影作品的视觉属性与内容展开严谨分析的研究，这也成为当前学界认知中的一处显著空白。本研究旨在填补这一空白。本研究采集了51张由专业摄影师拍摄的死产纪念摄影作品，对其进行匿名化处理与分析。本研究采用内容分析法，从美学属性与语义特征两个维度对影像进行刻画与归类。内容分析结果从样本中识别出四类标志性影像范式：其一为父母怀抱婴儿且彼此存在肢体接触的全家福；其二为婴儿的微距摄影作品；其三为婴儿独自躺卧、几乎无明显躯体创伤的肖像照；其四为家长（通常为母亲）怀抱婴儿的影像。 本研究的聚焦对象为专业摄影师为因婴儿夭折而陷入丧亲之痛的群体拍摄的纪念影像。本研究旨在对这类摄影作品的内容进行量化测量与评价。研究的原始数据来源于公开发布于各类网站与社交媒体平台的摄影作品。为确保样本具备代表性，避免仅来自单一摄影师或某一特定慈善机构（如Remember My Baby）的创作规范，研究从多渠道搜集影像素材。所有纳入研究的影像均需标注有明确的公开发布许可。本研究未对影像进行复刻，且已完成匿名化处理，相关素材可通过结果数据库中的超链接获取。 本研究的语义分析环节旨在探究影像中出现的人物构成，包括其与婴儿的亲属关系，以及通过人物站位、肢体动作、空间距离与视线方向所体现出的人际互动（包括与镜头的互动）。本编码体系旨在通过与家庭及社会身份相关的视觉符号与主题的出现频率及相关性，识别出影像中隐含的社会关系。 美学属性依据摄影作品特有的视觉特质进行分类，涵盖影像的取景范围（包含与排除的元素）、拍摄视角、主体裁切程度、图像格式、曝光时长、由景深所带来的画面虚实效果，以及色彩饱和度。在实际操作中，美学属性与语义内容的界定有时具有一定主观性，二者不可避免地存在交叉：例如背景既属于摄影作品的美学属性范畴，同时也承载着丰富的语义信息。因此，本研究采用的编码体系对美学与语义分类标准进行了一定的合理化整合。