Mobile photography as a “letter to the future”

The article deals with mobilography as a way of presenting and attributing belonging to a certain culture and as a mechanism of memorializing the present for the future in a context of the modern digital civilization. It is described how the mobile photography is used for the understanding what exactly is of value to the creators of modern culture, what they want to tell future generations about themselves or about the world in which they live. Mobile photos are studied as kind of “letters to the future”. 6 000 mobile photos from 650 unique users aged 15 to 30 from the Instagram, Facebook, “VKontakte” and “Odnoklassniki” social networks are analyzed. The results are given in the selection of seven specific groups of photos with similar connotations. It is shown that young people appreciate their small homeland, the “inner circle” of relatives and friends, places of socialization, significant historical events and cultural figures, national traditions, etc. Conclusions are drawn that the mobilography plays a role in the construction of the image of the present, which, at another point, participates in the formation of a positive idea of the future.