Think about images you have seen on postcards for sale, for example in a museum or gallery, or at a popular tourist destination. What stories do these postcards tell about people and place? How might the writing on the back echo, challenge or subvert that story?
Think about a postcard that you have bought, kept, sent or received. How does the image, or the words written on it, make you feel? What memories does the postcard evoke?
If you were to put your postcard into an archive, or to display it on a museum wall, what would you write on its label? How might other people react, or analyse your postcard in these spaces?
If you have never bought, kept, sent or received a postcard, what other image + word mediums – social media, letters, phone texts – have you used to send or receive messages? Do any stick out in your mind? What memories does they evoke? How do you think these mediums differ from postcards?
Think about the different ways in which you communicate with other people, locally and globally, in different contexts. How does the medium – phone call, text message, letter, email, postcard, Instagram Story, Tweet, etc. – shape the message? How does it impact your tone, your use of language, or the way you feel?
Think about what you can say with images that you cannot say in words – and vice-versa. How might your postcard echo, or perhaps challenge dominant ideas about your research topic?
What contextualising information will you include to guide how the recipient makes sense of your postcard? How do you think they will receive your message?
