Photography

Today I learned about photography.

Miller, Rick. 2009. "Nomadic and Domestic: Dwelling on the edge of Ulaambaatar." Unpublished manuscript. Los Angeles, CA.

Moore, Gemma, Ben Croxford, Mags Adams, Mohamed Refaee, Trevor Cox, and Steve Sharples. 2008. The Photo-Survey Research Method: Capturing life in the city. Visual Studies 23 (1):50-62.

The use of photography in geographical research is an obvious coupling, yet photography remains obscure in geography partly because it has been difficult to bring into a clear methodological frame. Despite convention, I think photos and maps are complementary tools for geographers, yet photos tend to end up in "art," and maps tend to end up in "geography." Maps allow us to simultaneously visualize disparate places of the earth's surface, normally from a 90 degree above angle. They allow us to see spatial trends. They are necessarily limited representations of the world. Photos, likewise, are limited representations of the world. They, as well, never tell the whole story. While photographs may not allow us to see spatial trends with the same poignancy as maps, they can give us a glimpse into experiences and perceptions that may be had in the places that aggregate to make spatial trends. Lastly, while maps let us see lots of places at once, photographs let us see one place at a time, but with a richer texture.

Might a geographer who studies landscape take more interesting or informative pictures of landscapes? I was inspired when I discovered that Rick Miller's research in Mongolia utilizes his own photographs as an integral part of data collection about how people in Mongolia view their dwellings with respect to mobility. This seems like an excellent method to bring together the studied and the studier. A presentation without (in this example) Rick's insight and perspective would be devoid of authorship, while a presentation without the perspective of those who are the focus of the research would be imperialist. Meeting half way, then, is inevitable, so using the photograph to create a shared, common vocabulary is useful.

The Moore et al article lays out a case in which photographs were used to capture people's perceptions of their urban environment. The collection of these perceptions, or local knowledges, were then represented in photographs. The project was meant to tap into the visual imagination of the participants to make sense of the cacophony of the city. This project, unlike Rick's, asked the participants to make their own images rather than interpret those images of the author.

The next meeting of the Association of American Geographers is this March in Las Vegas. As part of the conference I have registered for a day-long workshop with the theme of "using photography to investigate urban landscapes." The workshop is lead by Caroline Knowles from the Centre for Urban & Community Research, and Paul Halliday, from the University of London. We are meant to learn the types of images that are useful to urban exploration, and how professional geographers read photographs to say things about the urban environment. Part of the workshop includes time to go out into the city in small groups and take pictures. We will then assemble them in an exhibit which will show during the week of the conference.

I was also photographically inspired by a recent exhibit I saw at the Center for Land Use Interpretation in Culver City. They showcased the work of 1960s photographer Merle Porter, who traveled around making postcards. I would categorize his images as "desert vernacular." One of the inspiring things about these postcards is the lenghty, informative descriptions on the back.
From the CLUI:
"Known as 'the postcard king of the west,' Porter was on the road at least 9 months a year, distributing cards to remote motels, gas stations and souvenir shops, while constantly shooting images for new cards with his 4x5 Speed Graphic camera. Typically his route took him through the California, Arizona and Nevada desert areas in winter, and the California beach areas in summer; his aversion to big cities kept his work out of major metropolitan areas like Los Angeles and San Francisco. At the height of his career, Porter was putting 1,000 miles a week on his Ford Econoline van (which served both as living quarters and portable inventory room), and circulating one million cards a year, under the name Royal Pictures of Colton, California."