Repeat Photography, Part 1 of 2

Photography, even in its earliest moments, has enabled humans to capture the world around them. This desire has taken the form in a variety of different projects and types of photography. For example, photo journalism or naturalist using it to capture various types of plant and animals. In addition, humans have enjoyed taking pictures of the natural landscapes for practical or aesthetic purposes. The images at the time served an important purpose to those that took them, but also to the world at large. And they continue to serve an important purpose today as images taken a hundred years ago or fifty years ago are now being used to gage the evolution in various environments. The practice of using photographs that either reside in archives or are part of the public conscience to gage the change in the urban or natural environment is called repeat photography.

Trudi Smith, in her article "Repeat Photography as a Method in Visual Anthropology," defines repeat photography as, "The aim of such research is to create contemporary photographs, or 'repeat' photographs, that are taken from the exact location or perspective of the previous historical photograph, thereby allowing for an analysis of the space over a stretch of time" (Smith 179). Capturing the image from the exact spot in which the photo was taken is extremely important in observing the change. To truly, scientifically see the change that has occurred with time, the exact location from where the original was taken must be found or the process must be copied. For example, Colonel Laussedat, in the 1850s, experimented with capturing a 360-degree landscape by using a balloon to elevate the camera, which was later used by another photographer, Édouard-Gaston Deville.  Deville used it to capture images in his job as a surveyor (Delaney 83). In order to accomplish the requirements for repeat photography, the exact process and location of the elevated balloon was researched and then copied (Delaney 89). The change over time can only truly be evaluated once the location is exactly mimicked. The results of such strict method show that repeat photography effectively and uniquely captures the change occurring in the natural world.

Trudi Smith, used repeat photography in the Waterton Lakes National Park in Canada as a tool in visual anthropology to gage the creation of narratives about the landscape (185-186). Smith sees national parks as places where both ecology is preserved and humans interact with the natural world. By using repeat photography, Smith is able to see "dominant views and to see how the landscape has been represent" (186). Most likely due to her research, Smith defines two different kinds of repeat photography: reflective repeat photography and interpretive repeat photography. Reflective repeat photography is the process of as closely as possible copying the historical photo to measure change in environment or cultural; whereas interpretive repeat photography uses the same historical process, but desires to recover a different way of seeing the world  (Smith 192). Smith's process focuses more on the interpretive repeat photography. Having mimicked the historical photos, Smith at times found that her photos turned out differently than the original. Her results lead her to identify that these images did not defy repeat photograph, but instead "archival art and anthropological investigation come together to force a close look at the nature of records themselves" (194). Smith places value not just on the scientific results of repeat photography, but also on the action and the documents themselves. She sees the attempt at repeat photography as a way of reexamining the records and their purpose in society. And pushing individuals to question everything associated with the image, such as: the original image, the image itself, and the environment captured (Smith 194).  

Photos are not always meant to prompt questioning of the world at large as seen with Smith's other identified repeat photography, reflective repeat photography. The scientific use of repeat photography, for example, is not used to force observers to question the image itself, but to prove a theory or document the change occurring in a given area. A study undertaken to show the decreased vegetation is an example of reflective repeat photography. Chen et al. in their study, "Detecting One-Hundred-Year Environmental Changes in Western China Using Seven-Year Repeat Photography," use the 1,076 pictures taken by Ernest Henry Wilson to show the reality of climate change on the landscape (1-2). Although they could not replicate every picture due to urban development, the ones that they were able to duplicate clearly show the change that has occurred. One such example of the change that occurred is: "On September 11, 1908, E.H. [Ernest Henry] Wilson took a photo of dense Abies fabri forests grown on the mountain slopes in Sichuan with bamboos (Fargesia) fully covering the understory. . .But a great part of bamboo bushes had changed into grassland, probably due to the decreased groundwater lever because of climate warming" (Chen et al. 1-2). Repeat photography serves it purpose in this example.  The historical pictures alongside the recreated images shows the landscapes change.

Stay tuned for Part 2, which will focus on one particular project of repeat photography. 

Works Cited

Chen, Huai, et al. "Detecting One-Hundred-Year Environmental Changes in Western China Using Seven-Year Repeat Photography." PLoS ONE 6.9 (2011): 1-13. Print. 

Delaney, Jill. "An Inconvenient Truth? Scientific Photography and Archival Ambivalence." Archivaria 65 (2008): 75-95. Print. 

Smith, Trudi. "Repeat Photography as a Method in Visual Photography." Visual Anthropology 20 (2007): 179-200. Print.