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

Abstract

Research 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 place
• visitor employed photography