Amateur photographic practice, collective representation and the constitution of place

Abstract

This article explores the relationship between amateur photographic practices and the constitution of place. The analysis focuses on how amateur photography practices (broadly defined) are engaged in the processes through which UK Slow Cities are represented. I examine how the personal and the public/collective are co-implicated in processes of representation that bring together experienced realities, memories and imaginations together with the constitution of a specific type of 'slow' urban identity. I argue that while a focus on photography as practice offers a starting point for understanding its role in the constitution of urban identities, it needs to be situated further through a theory of place.