Jo Spence. Opening Up the Family Album (1988-89)

In August 1988 Channel 4 television in the UK broadcast a four part series entitled "Opening Up the Family Album". Presented by Jo Spence and based on her research, the series looked at what lies hidden behind the formulaic images of the family album. Instead of playing happy families at birthdays, weddings and christenings, Spence looks deeper at the everyday life from the mundane to stress, illness, trauma and grief. What lay behind the conventional images presented by stereotypical family albums preoccupied Spence both as a writer and a photographer and led her to reinvent the family album through combining word and image in her artist's scrapbooks.

The 4 part Channel 4 series was directed by Nina Kellgren and presented by Jo Spence.

The first episode looks at having your photo taken by other people, including street photographers.

The second episode, about the secrets and stories behind the seemingly innocuous family photos, features Jo Spence, Sybil Phoenix, Stan Grant, Nuala Campbell, Maggie Murray and Allegra Damji.

The third episode, about using photos as therapy, features Jo Spence, Leah Thorn, Maxine Walker, Tessa Boffin, Claudio Solano, Martine Houghton, Stuart Liebermann, Linda Sole.

The fourth episode, examining the relations between personal and public histories, features Maxine Walker, Stuart Hall, Maggie Murray, Thelma Reynolds, Sybil Phoenix, Ann Burrell and Allegra Damji.

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Jo Spence. Opening Up the Family Album (1988-89)

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