Photographs Across Time: Studies in Urban Landscapes

This book examines the use of photography across two different but complementary disciplines. The first part focuses on the use of photography in landscape studies, revisiting several landscapes and weathering studies where digital photographs have demonstrated landscape change in urban areas through time. Archival studies are integrated as part of cross-temporal research applications of photographs. Much of this part of the book is based on work performed in Oxford, UK. The second part of the book focuses on the archaeological use of photographs, comprising churchyard studies throughout England and Scotland in the UK. The scientific application of (digital) photography is presented for research scientists (landscape experts) and professional practitioners. The book is also intended for archivists interested in records of urban environments and for those readers who are interested in the geographical scope of the British cities covered in this work, including Oxford, York, Scarborough, Dunbar, Edinburgh, and Inverness. This eBook is crossdisciplinary, comprising quantitative studies within geomorphology and heritage science as well as more qualitative work in the area of historical archaeology. The photographic record contained in this book makes it a storehouse of visual records through time made accessible to a broader audience as an online (eBook) resource.

This chapter examines the photoarchives available in print format (as at the archives of Oxford colleges) as well as online (electronic versions) of the record. Archival material is crucial in cross-temporal research in order to extend back the temporal framework as far back as possible in the historical record, in this case using historical photographs in various available formats. The archival record is considered here from a photographic perspective, with consideration of photographs and how they have been used to track cross-temporal landscape change. These historical photographs have sometimes appeared as postcards in the archival record or as digital images, and can be the basis of before-and-after comparisons of change. This chapter contains a case study that examines how modern photography can stand with historical photographs in order to portray cross-temporal change of various buildings located in central Oxford.

Digital photography is the form photographic form that is most easily employed in the field and for quantitative study of landscape change. Digital cameras are increasingly cheaper and images more capable of capture detail. For these reasons mainly, digital photography is integrated into research studies both qualitatively (pictorially) or for quantification (measurement). Entire databases are being constructed using digital cameras, including museum collections, many of which now have a digital database or gallery associated with them. The digital image is an indispensable tool for fieldworkers. This chapter comprises of a case study that illustrates how digital photography can be employed to establish a digital archaeological record based on photographs taken in the field of headstones located in several urban churchyards situated within central Oxford.

A recent, and what seems like a natural evolution, of photography has been for quantification. With modern cameras that can more realistically depict what is visible, it is possible to measure change using (digital) photography. This chapter considers various examples of the application of photography in the measurements of surface colouration (soiling) and the decay of weathering forms. Techniques developed by the first author are presented, and a case study on the application of the O-IDIP method is presented to convey photographic surveys for the quantification of stone surface colouration associated with biological colonisation on a string course in central Oxford.

It is important to consider wider applications of photography and photographic applications. In this chapter, various developments are considered, including the derivation of an environment history through the photographic record as well as technological applications, as through microscopy and image capture. In this way, the environment can be captured at various scales and from field-based studies to the laboratory.

The use of photography in research has enabled the preservation of several important features historical monuments such as headstones. This established visual record creates a gateway to studying the past in a more accessible way. Yet, these have also been used for more sentimental reasons, in the remembrance of the dead; by establishing a seriation in their use on headstones, which commence in the mid-1980s and then in the 1990s in Oxford, UK cemeteries.

Changes in the way that photographs were taken have led to different methods of preservation. The advent of the digital camera has made photography more accessible as well as easier to use. It has benefited the research method in the field. The preservation of the photograph has also been improved, and methods of storing photographs have also improved. These have all aided in recording key historical information particularly found on headstones. Changing traditions in the use of motifs and epitaphs on headstones in England have been noted through the use of digital photographs.

Cultural heritage has continued to be explored by several organisations in the UK. Understanding heritage is important in learning about current society, and, in several ways, the churchyard is a strong source for learning about cultural history. The changing styles of headstone inscriptions provide information about the socioeconomics of a place; and regional styles provide information on the fashion of the time and the understanding of material culture.

Several changes made to digital photography have improved the use of the digital camera. However, there are still issues that affect digital photography in the field, and with continued innovation in this area for particular elements, such as camera shake, low battery, lighting conditions and obstructions, the use of the digital camera in the field could create a new trend in photographic research.

This book represents a collaborative work between a geomorphologist and archaeologist. The focus has been on the employment of photography to study and record the urban landscape. Both authors have brought their own disciplinary perspectives into the eBook, for pictorial depiction, image quantification, database compilation, and more. This collaboration is unique because of the theme (of photography), which is able to link the various research studies presented here. Photography has enabled science and social science to appear side-by-side in a harmonious contribution to landscape studies.