A Preliminary Study of the Self-Directed Photography of Middle-Class, Homeless, and Mobility-Impaired Children∗

Abstract

Understanding the ways in which children with different life experiences come to terms with day‐to‐day contexts and constraints has become an important topic of social science research. This study applies the technique of auto‐photography to the study of children‐environment transactions. How children apprehend their environments is described through a leitmotif analysis and an interpretation of photographs taken by children from middle‐class families, homeless children, and children whose mobility is impaired by cerebral palsy. We speculate upon the social and physical contexts of these children based upon the images that they selected to photograph. Although impressionistic, our findings suggest the importance of auto‐photography as a method for uncovering children‐environment transactions.

Revealing the Hidden Spatial Dimensions of Place Experience in Primary School-age Children

“…The themes identified related to: place or object specific experiences; feelings and emotional significance; social networks; and imagination and temporal aspects. The use of photo-elicitation in this context reflects findings from the first two phases that appear consistent with themes cited in Aitken and Wingate (1993) who define a conceptual structure called a Leitmotif code from a self directed photographic study. Aitken and Wingate's code of children's place perception is built around the four themes of built environment; natural environment; dynamic/action; and social relations.…”

“…Theme One: place and object specific experiences The children variously described experiences of particular places or objects, and two typologies were identified consistent with those cited in Aitken and Wingate (1993). One of these is categorised as the built environment and has a complex range of sub-categories some of which included domestic, institutional and commercial buildings.…”

“…Indeed that sense of place may be rooted in a complex synthesis of objects and locations, their emotional associations and social significance, along with mental projections that are purely imaginative. Further analysis of the first phase of participation was facilitated by the compilation of a Leitmotif code (Aitken and Wingate, 1993). A Leitmotif has origins in music where a theme is said to be dominant or recurring.…”

Young people's embodied social capital and performing disability

“…The photographs were used to construct 'storyboards' that could include written text, depending upon young people's preferences (see Figure 1). <<Figure 1 about here>> These storyboards and self-directed photographs were adapted from methods used by Aitken and Wingate (1993), which seek to engage with young people's ways of knowing and communicating. The storyboards served as semi-projective tools to prompt discussions with young people, and individuals were only asked to comment upon their own storyboards.…”

Children's Political Geographies

“…These interconnected but distinguishable fields have built strong linkages to feminist social and cultural geographies and many of the key concepts, theoretical perspectives and methodological approaches of the early scholarship were drawn from literatures concerning the family, the school, welfare institutions and urban space. Early publications include a discussion series in Area with contributions from Sarah James (1990James ( , 1991, David Sibley (1991) and Hilary Winchester (1991), articles in geography journals and books by Cindi Katz (1991Katz ( , 1993, Stuart Aitken, Joan Wingate and Thomas Herman (Aitken and Wingate 1993;Herman 1997), Teresa Ploszajska (1994), Hugh Matthews (1995aMatthews ( , 1995b, Hilary Winchester and Lauren Costello (1995), David Sibley (1995a, and Gill Valentine (1996aValentine ( , 1996b, as well as monographs by Hugh Matthews (1992) and Stuart Aitken (1994), among others.…”