Finding Time: temporality and photomedia literacy as experienced during the Recovery and Reconstruction Games

2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K22994
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: 0101:Philosophy, art, and related fields
• Research Institution: University of Tsukuba
• Principal Investigator: McLeod Gary 筑波大学, 芸術系, 助教 (70850593)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-08-30 – 2022-03-31
• Keywords: Temporality / Photomedia literacy / Rephotography / Tokyo 2020 / Post-tsunami / Reconstruction / Recovery / Iwate Prefecture

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Use of digital cameras is believed to increase visual literacy, but requires time that contemporary users do not have. Moreover, less familiarity with other photomedia (e.g. film cameras) increases risk of time blindness. In this study, a practical framework using participatory rephotography was developed to give university students exposure to a variety of photomedia and an opportunity to think about temporalities other than their own. In doing so, a visual archive, a series of photobooks, and other media artefacts were created that collectively documented and explored reconstruction and recovery in coastal cities of Iwate Prefecture before and during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic games.

Free Research Field

Visual literacy

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

学習環境において、学生がデジタルカメラを使用する機会が増えています。しかし、他のフォトメディア（フィルムなど）が持つ時間性は、難しい薬品やコストのために見落とされがちです。本研究の結果、様々な時間性を考えるためにはフォトメディアリテラシーが重要であることが確認されたが、フォトメディアリテラシーの向上は難しい材料（ピンホールカメラなど）がなくても達成可能であることがわかった。本研究の結果を活用することで、視覚リテラシーを研究する研究者が、デジタルカメラに代わる手段を検討することが期待される。