Making and Knowing Digital Pictures: Young People Displaying Visual-digital Literacies

Abstract

This article focuses on young people’s digital picture-making and the role of digital illustration applications in this process. It is based on 10 in-depth interviews with young people aged 11–20 years living in Sweden. Using the concept of visual-digital literacy, we analyse young people’s talk about how they accomplish picture-making and use different tools, techniques and devices. The analysis shows that pictures are seen as never fully finished but something that could be modified, revisited, remade and re-evaluated. While differentiating between and contrasting analogue and digital picture-making, young people often see them as complementary. They also see digital tools as generating flexibility and freedom to experiment with techniques, colours and motifs. The article contributes to understanding young people’s self-initiated leisure practices such as digital picture-making from their own perspectives.