ABSTRACT
Through my photography of the minute physical transformations to property, and interviews with residents based on these documents, I was able to discover some social and cultural themes underlying the redevelopment of the neighbourhood. In addition to a vast photographic survey of structures and the physical transformation of the neighbourhood, I photographed fifty families – approximately seventy-five residents – and, using the method of photo-elicitation interviewing, I was able to unravel some of the social meanings attributed to the material cultural artefacts and the physical and material cultural changes perceived by members of the community to be taking place within the neighbourhood. The photography of the physical structures and community residents and their private belongings, apartments and homes functioned as an entrance point to the micro-world of attitudes, values, beliefs and personal perceptions (Suchar 1992; Suchar and Rotenberg 1994). For example, I was able to discern attitude sets like ‘urban romanticism’ which were an amalgam of beliefs and values that favoured ‘Victorian-style’ houses, embellishments and ornamentations, as well as a host of other specific predilections, and I was able to link these to attitudes about the community and fellow residents (Suchar 1997).
