Swiping through the family album: Instagram carousels, 9/11 Memorial photo dumps and tactile memory work

Instagram carousels allow users to share up to 20 different images or videos in one post. In this article, we draw on observations of Instagram carousel posts shared after visits to the 9/11 Memorial in New York City in 2022. Situating both memorials and family photography as political sites and practices, we argue that Instagram carousels converge past familial photographic cultural practices together with present digital practices. In doing so, we position Instagram carousels as doing cultural memory work that is related to the rituals of family photography. Through gestures and haptic movements, Instagram carousels viewed on devices perform in similar ways to family photo albums and slide shows. Building upon the role of digital media as a form of intimate memory work, and the concept of mediated memory, we consider how Instagram carousels are individual and cultural memory objects that are circulated, recalled and engaged with following visits to the 9/11 Memorial site. We analyse the interrelationship between the form of the Instagram carousel, the album, and the slide show, to show how photographic practices move across forms and performances. In doing so we emphasise the relationship between serial photography, social media and family rituals in the Instagram carousel.