Practising photography: an archive, a study, some photographs and a researcher

This paper begins from the assumption that the meanings of a photograph are established through its uses. This point has been well made by a number of historical geographers in recent arguments for the importance of photograp hy as a record of historically-specific ways of seeing the world. This pape r, however, extends that argument, and focuses on the relationships between the photograph and the historical geographer. Drawing on my own experience s of working in the Print Room of the Victoria and Albert Museum looking at photographs taken by Lady Hawarden in the mid-nineteenth century, I discus s the effects of that archive both on them and on myself as a researcher. I argue that that archive is a powerful space which to a certain degree alli es the visual and spatial resources of the photographs and the research pra ctice of the historical geographer to its own discipline; but I also argue that its discipline can be disrupted by its own contradictory discourses an d by other relationships between researcher and the photographs. In conclus ion, I ask for more consideration to be given to contemporary research prac tice in relation to historical photographs. Historical geographers cannot t hemselves claim to be merely the descriptive recorders of history and geogr aphy if they wish to deny this status to photographs. (C) 2000 Academic Pre ss.