Evidence and Deception: A Historic Photo-Analysis Method for Landscape Studies

Abstract

While historic photographs are a compelling resource and illustrate and supplement many studies, scholars of the landscape may be hesitant to draw conclusions from photographs themselves. Although the deceptive nature of photography is a substantial challenge to overcome, archival photographs can improve understanding of landscape history aspects that have received minimal scholarly attention because of limited supplemental documentation. This article offers a systematic approach to reducing this issue using a series of early photographs of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, as an instructive example. In 1901, Andrew David and Howard Lytle published 46 residential portraits in The Elks’ Souvenir of Baton Rouge. Because none of the residences photographed for the Elks’ Souvenir exist in a recognizable form today, the residences and landscapes created during this formative period of postwar industrialization and homebuilding have been largely forgotten. This article describes the extent to which these properties can be understood by reviewing the physical context using the Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps and linking them with a new photo-analysis process. The proposed process should assist researchers and practitioners in arriving at a more thorough understanding of the sites depicted in historic photographs.