Studio, as well as amateur photography existed as individual pieces but were also collected in albums. Photo albums were on the one hand used to preserve personal memories and on the other, as a representational device for the middle-class family. They play a central role in the formation and consolidation of individual and collective identities. Whilst assembling and arranging photographs, a life story or a community is drafted and a respective audience is addressed. Thus, within the album, individually portrayed people evolve into a group or an institution, that is able to be experienced simply by looking through the album.
