ABSTRACT
Our cultural landscapes are embodiments of our pasts, perspectives, and values. Commemorative spaces – especially our monumental and memorial landscapes – are compelling in the ways they lay claim to space and the ways we choose to remember them. Throughout history, we’ve captured these places through the lenses of photography, preserving them and their settings within a photographic record.
The goal was to develop a technique using repeat photography that would allow for the study of monument landscapes throughout their lifespan, no matter where they were located. As part of this exploration, an experimental remote repeat photography method was developed and performed that sourced images from digital archives and created criteria to evaluate approximate photographic matches. This chapter discusses the method’s development, working practices deployed, and points of conflict that were either resolved or remained barriers to the practice presented here.
Though this application was specifically focused on monuments and memorial landscapes, repeat photography can be an immensely versatile and accessible form of cultural landscape research. In applying this technique, we can not only learn about past events, but can also begin to uncover questions around our own understanding of the topic at hand, revealing pluralities of narrative and historical perceptions that are echoed in present conversations and conflicts.
