A Picture<i>and</i>1000 Words: Using Resident-Employed Photography to Understand Attachment to High Amenity Places

TLDR

Research on attachment to high‑amenity places has mainly focused on visitors, though permanent residents also inhabit these settings, and visitor‑employed photography has been used to identify landscape elements that enhance recreational experience. The study applies visitor‑employed photography to analyze local elements that foster place attachment among permanent residents of high‑amenity areas. The authors gave single‑use cameras to 45 residents in two communities near Jasper National Park, Alberta, asking them to photograph elements that most attach them to their community, using visitor‑employed photography methods. Results show that ecological and sociocultural factors are interrelated in shaping attachment, with each type of element influencing the other.

Abstract

AbstractResearch on attachment to high amenity places has usually focused on visitors, despite the fact that many of these settings also may hold permanent residents. Visitor employed photography (VEP) has been used to understand landscape elements that increase the quality of the recreational experience. Our research applies the techniques of VEP to analyze local elements that foster place attachment among permanent residents of high amenity areas. We provided single use cameras to 45 subjects in two communities located in and adjacent to Jasper National Park, Alberta, instructing them to take photos of elements that most attach them to their community. Our results reveal a complex relationship between ecological and sociocultural factors in attachment; these elements are not separate, but help define each other.KEYWORDS: Sense of placevisitor employed photography