Photo go‐alongs for researching the relations between people and place

This paper demonstrates the value of photo go-alongs as a qualitative method for researching the complex relationships between people and place. By integrating two traditional research methods, photo elicitation and go-alongs, the paper considers the utility of photo go-alongs in providing rich insights into how participants make sense of themselves and the world in the present moment. Photo go-alongs were used as part of a research study in Prestwich, Greater Manchester, UK, which worked with older people to better understand places of significance across the life-course. This was against a policy back-drop of the city-region becoming more ‘age-friendly’. Within this context, photo go-alongs were used to showcase participants’ lived experiences. Through vignettes and using a more-than-representational epistemology which prioritises movement and the present moment, the paper highlights three key advantages of using photo go-alongs to research the relations between people and place. First, photo go-alongs show how pasts and futures shape the unfolding present. Second, they highlight how biographical and social memories intertwine. Third, they reveal place-making practices and routines. The conclusions highlight the utility of photo go-alongs in illuminating the interplay between people and place, as well as how method itself can be a space of potential. The benefits of photo go-alongs are stronger when they are approached with a flexible, adaptive, and responsive ethos.