Photographs as a Source for Social History and the History of Emotions

The two photographs I am examining, which are taken from a series involving some sixty married couples from across Tunisia and over three generations (covering the period from the 1940s to the 1990s), concern the second generation of couples—those marrying in the 1960s and 1970s, when the marriage photo became a significant element in family practice. These portraits reveal new patterns of behavior, testifying to the impact of (1) discussions about a woman's right to choose her spouse that took place after the promulgation of the Personal Status Code in 1956, (2) mixed-gender education, and (3) campaigns denouncing the negative effects on new couples of expensive marriage ceremonies.