Lesson video

Hi, my name is Chloe and I'm a geography field studies tutor.

This lesson is called using and interpreting photographs, and it forms part of the geographical skills unit of work.

We're going to be looking at lots of different types of photographs and how geographers use them to extend their knowledge about places and describe them through a really good level of detail.

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to use and interpret a range of photographs.

There's quite a few key words in this lesson, so let's have a look at some of them now.

First of all, oblique aerial photograph.

This is an aerial photograph where the camera is at an angle to the Earth's surface.

You can also have a vertical aerial photograph, and this is where that photograph is taken straight down from the air showing a view of the Earth's surface.

An annotation is a comment used to describe and explain things that might not necessarily be seen in an image.

And finally, critical analysis.

This is where we think more widely about an image to gain a deeper understanding of it.

This lesson is in three parts.

First of all, what type of photographs are there? How do geographers use photographs? And how do geographers interpret photographs? Let's start with that first one.

What type of photographs are there? Geographers use a range of photographs to show how the world looks.

Ground photographs are photographs taken on the ground where the camera is at the same level as the subject.

Ground photographs are useful to geographers as they can help the viewer to imagine themselves in the scene.

However, ground photographs can distort the size of features.

Features that are further away will appear smaller and will be seen in less detail.

Features that are close to the camera will appear larger and will be seen in more detail.

Aerial photographs are taken from the air, usually from an aircraft or a drone.

Oblique aerial photographs view the Earth from above and at an angle.

You can see that in the little graphic there.

These photographs can show large areas of land and give an indication of relative heights of features.

However, they also distort the size of features with things that are closer to the camera appearing larger.

Let's do a check for our understanding so far.

Which of these is an advantage of using ground photographs? Is it A, they show more detail.

B, they help geographers imagine they're in the scene.

C, they help geographers judge distances.

Or D, they distort the size of different features.

Pause the video here and have a think about the different options and then hopefully come back to me with the right answer.

Well, hopefully you remembered that they can help geographers imagine they're at the scene because they're taken exactly the same angle that we would view the scene at if we would stood on the ground.

They're a great way of trying to think about what it would be like to be there.

Vertical aerial photographs view straight down upon the Earth's surface.

Again, you can see our drone there in our graphic looking straight down on the Earth.

These are useful as scale can be applied to them.

In a sense, they have the same view as somebody who is looking at a map.

However, it can be difficult to recognise where certain features are, and some features might be obscured by things like trees or bridges.

Anything which has multiple layers to it from the ground upwards can really be tricky to interpret.

Satellite images are based on images taken from space satellites orbiting Earth.

They're often made up of many photographs stitched together.

And this is so that clear images, which are free from cloud cover, can be created.

It's really important to remember that these images are not maps, even though they're sometimes used in the same way.

You might have used digital maps where you can swap between the map and a satellite image, but it is very important that we remember, one is a map and one is a photograph.

So true or false.

Satellites images are a type of map.

Pause the video, you should be able to get this one easily, then come back to me.

Well done if you recognise that it is false, they're not a type of map, but why is that a false statement? Well, although they appear to be from the same viewpoint, satellites images and maps are very different things.

Maps will show things that satellites images won't and vice versa.

Let's look at our first practise task now.

Match the term to the correct image by pairing up the letters and numbers.

So you can see we've got four different images there and we've got four different descriptions, different types of photographs.

Ground photograph, vertical aerial photograph, and oblique aerial photograph, and a satellite image.

Using the letters and numbers, pair them up so that they are the right way around.

Let's have a look at your answers.

So hopefully you saw that the first image, image number one is a satellite image.

You can actually see there's some cloud cover in the way there.

So we have got a big clue there that it's taken from a satellite image.

Image two, you can see it's actually at a slight angle looking down on the Earth.

So we know it's an aerial photograph, but that angle is what makes it an oblique aerial photograph.

So it's 2c.

Three is also taken from above, but can you see the difference in the detail between the satellites image of number one and the image in number three? So yeah, it's definitely got to be a vertical aerial photograph.

And then finally, number four, yes, it has to be a ground photograph.

We can see that it's almost like we are stood there next to the tree, so we know that that is a ground photograph.

Second part of today's lesson, how do geographers use photographs? To highlight certain aspects of a photograph, geographers use labels and annotations.

A label is a brief description of something you can see in the photograph.

It does not generally provide the reader with any detailed knowledge.

It's almost kind of stating the obvious a little bit.

So something like this is the river, it's the River Severn.

It's not really providing with a massive bank of information there.

An annotation is a more detailed description and explanation of something in the photograph.

It will often add information of something that you cannot see in the photograph itself.

Hmm, so what kind of extra details could Jun add to this photograph in the form of annotations? What kind of thing would you think he might pick up on? Well, he could point out things like the bridges or the church, to point out that there's lots of heritage structures and these provide points of interest.

He might be able to point out something which you can't see.

Something like the prevailing wind, it's from a southwest lead direction.

So you could point out information like that to really add some extra context to what's going on there.

Talk about sounds, you can't see a sound in a photograph.

So he could talk about the sound of moving water and it gives the town a feeling of calm and tranquillity.

He might provide some more factual information from some research that he's done.

So he talks about the River Severn, how it flooded in 2022, causing widespread damage to properties and businesses.

So we've got a bit of extra detail, we've got things that you can't see in the photograph, and then we've got some background knowledge as well.

Let's check our understanding of annotations and labels.

Have a look at the paragraph below and complete the sentences with missing words.

Pause the video and then come back to me.

So let's have a look at what you came up with.

Geographers use annotations and labels to highlight features of a photograph.

Labels simply describe something that can be seen in the photograph, while annotations explain a feature in more detail or highlight something unseen like smell or sound.

Photographs show everything in a particular view.

This might mean the image is cluttered with lots of features that are not needed.

To avoid this problem, geographers use sketches.

A sketch is a simplified drawing of the main or the most important features in the photograph.

You can see how this photograph here has been scaled right back to just show the main ideas.

A sketch should be drawn with clean lines rather than artistic shading.

It should have a frame the same shape as the original photograph.

It would generally be drawn in black and white, though colour sometimes is used to highlight very particular features if necessary.

It will have labels and/or annotations that describe and explain the features in the sketch.

And it will have a title always.

Let's check our understanding of those ideas.

A sketch should have particular elements, we've just covered them.

Which element of a sketch is missing from this example? Is it a title, a frame, clean lines, or colour? Which element is missing? Pause the video and tell me what your answer is.

Hopefully you've seen that although this is a really great sketch artistically, it doesn't use clean lines, so it doesn't really pass as a geographical field sketch.

Instead, we would want to see really clean lines that are pulling out the most important features for the geographer to understand.

Let's move on to our second task of the lesson.

Lucas is studying the impact of earthquakes.

You can see we've got a photograph here, which is showing the aftermath of a firth, of an earthquake.

Write one annotation he could use for this photograph.

Remember what an annotation is compared to a label.

Then try to draw a sketch of the photograph and include two labels to show the main features.

Now this is gonna take a little while, so you will have to pause the video to have a go at this.

Come back to me and I'll show you the kind of things which I've done in order to complete this task.

Okay, so we're looking for one annotation that Lucas could use in this photograph.

Now there's lots going on in that photograph.

I've thought of things like the fact that there's lots of rubble blocking the road, and this would make it difficult to get aid to people who need it.

There's power and telephone lines that are damaged, and that means that communication between areas will have broken down.

Note how what I've done there is taken a description and then expanded it into an explanation.

So rubble blocking the road would be a simple label, a description, but then I've expanded that to say this makes it difficult to get aid to people who need it.

It's taking a description and then showing what meaning that actually has.

The power and telephone lines being damaged, that's a description, that's a label, but I've turned it into an annotation by saying that that means that communication between areas is broken down.

I could even take that further and talk about the impact that that would have on people's lives and how they might be rescued.

Then we've got your sketch.

Hopefully yours is a little bit than mine.

But there are some things which I would hope that you have included.

First of all, you'd need to make sure you've got some clean lines, that you've got a title, and then of course you've got a couple of labels to go on there as well.

So a pile of rubble is one thing I've put up.

A collapsed roof.

You could talk about the fact smashed windows.

Half the building has collapsed in the foreground.

All those kinds of things.

There's lots and lots of things that you could have pulled out of that in terms of labels.

Do remember that your title should be a sketch to show and then have a very clear description on the end of that.

Our final part of the lesson is all about how geographers interpret photographs.

So a photograph may show a particular event.

To better understand this event, geographers will try to interpret the photographs.

So we're gonna be looking at this photograph in particular here.

You can see what it is.

We've got a flooded street.

Step one is all about describing.

So geographers will start by describing any human and physical features they can see.

So Aisha has said the photograph shows a flooded road, with houses on one side and trees on the other.

The flood has stopped cars from passing.

It's a fairly straightforward description.

So that means it's a really good starting point for the rest of her interpretation.

The second step is to explain, then try to explain the features and say what is actually going on in that photograph.

You will use your knowledge to make sensible points even if you don't know the reason for why something is happening.

So Aisha said, the flood may have happened because this place has experienced high levels of rainfall and a local river has burst its banks.

From the photograph alone, you can't be sure exactly why there's that amount of water there.

But a sensible guess is what Aisha has gone with here, the idea of high rainfall and it means we've got a river bursting its banks.

Step three is about contextualising.

Geographers think about the wider social, economic and environmental contexts of the photograph.

So now this is going slightly beyond the photograph and more into what we already know and understand about those features.

When a flood closes a road, it can make it very difficult for people to travel to and from their places of work, and businesses could lose money.

Therefore this flood is likely to have an economic impact locally.

So what Aisha has done there, she's taken one element of the photograph, which is the fact that cars can't get through that flood water, and she's thought about, well, what are the wider context there? What social impacts would that have? What economic impacts? So talking about people travelling to work, and how maybe businesses losing money.

Really sensible suggestions, which means she's taking more than just what she's seeing in the photograph, she's contextualising it and creating a really good geographical case and understanding around that.

The fourth step is about questioning.

When there is a feature that cannot easily be explained, geographers about questions that would help them.

So Aisha said, how have the local people been affected by the flood? Why have the homes been built so close to a river? Those are really great questions that take it from that simple description through to some explanation, thinking about the wider context, and now we're going even further than that and thinking about, well, what is the bigger picture here and trying to ask bigger questions.

Let's check our understanding.

Laura is discussing this photograph.

At what stage of interpretation is she? She says, the wooden revetments work by deflecting wave energy back out to sea.

Is she describing, explaining, contextualising, or questioning? Pause the video and tell me the answer in a moment.

Hopefully you can see that Laura is explaining.

She's saying the wooden revetments work by deflecting.

She's talking about how the wooden revetments actually work.

She's explaining that.

Photographs are often thought to be objective.

This means that what appears in the photograph is actually witnessed in real life.

It's thought of as being fairly factual.

However, photographers choose to capture certain features.

They might zoom in or out to show particular details and not others.

So if we look at the photograph that we've got in the example here.

We've got in the foreground, lots and lots of low level housing, nothing really to speak of there.

We've got a little bit of high-rise in the background.

I'm not sure we're getting much from this photograph.

If we then extend the photograph, we can see, ah, we've got quite a different interpretation of what's going on here.

The high-rise is actually really high end, high-class housing, some modern sustainable buildings perhaps in contrast to some of the lower level buildings.

So this can affect how we interpret these photographs.

If we only are seeing one particular view, we might not actually get a really good understanding of what a place is like.

So in fact, photographs aren't objective at all, they're highly subjective.

The photographer is choosing what we see.

Geographers use critical analysis to think about whether the photograph is telling the whole story.

In critical analysis, geographers ask questions like.

What can I not see in the photograph? Why might the photographer have chosen this viewpoint? Who is the intended audience? And was it posed or was it taken spontaneously? Knowing the answers to these questions is actually really important for us understanding what the photograph is really showing.

So true or false.

A photograph is always objective.

Have a think about everything we've just said and come back to me with the right answer.

Well, hopefully you recognise that that is a false statement, but why is that false? Hopefully you said that photographers choose to capture certain features they might decide to show particular details and not others.

Our final task of today's lesson.

Take a photograph of somewhere you know well or find an image of a geographical feature online.

Write a sentence for each of the four steps of interpretation for your photograph.

So that's description, explanation, contextualising, and questioning.

You will definitely have to pause the video to have a go at this.

Come back to me with your ideas.

Let's look at what your answer should include.

So you should have a description of what you can actually see in the photograph.

You should have an explanation of what you can see in the photograph as well.

You should have some kind of contextual statement that shows how the image links to wider social, economic, or an environmental idea.

You should also have a question that cannot be answered from the photograph itself.

It's what takes us beyond the photograph to the next stage.

Let's summarise our ideas from this lesson.

Geographers use different types of photographs such as ground, aerial, and satellite to gain more information about a place.

Photographs can be labelled or annotated to highlight certain features in the photograph.

Geographers also draw sketches from photographs.

And geographers interpret photographs by describing, explaining, contextualising, and questioning them.

They also use critical analysis to think about the background to the photograph.

Well done.

There's a surprising amount to learn just about photographs, isn't there? Maybe next time you go and take one, you'll be thinking a little bit more about what you're including in your photograph and what you're deciding to leave out.