The lie of the land

At this point it seems important to discuss a bit about where the process started, where it is at the present and what still may be done to bring the project to a close.

The beginning: The idea itself was born from interest in the sites I view frequently on my outdoor adventures. I began from a place of little knowledge about the sites but an interest in the architecture of the houses and castles. From my own viewpoint I found the sites also intriguing due to access available such is not available in my home country where privacy and trespassing laws are very prohibitive. Therefore being able to access these sites and photograph them has been interesting and enjoyable.

I was unsure of what information would be forthcoming from the photographs so in some ways it has been a grounded theory approach. Things began to become clearer after a few weeks and certain 'codes' began to appear.

The present: Though there were certain obvious differences in size with regards to the properties, the most interesting features began to be illuminated when I re-studied the photographs at various times. As is shown in the network modelling diagram in a previous post I decided to deal with the three most obvious discourses displayed in the photos: Highland, Core/Periphery and Status. These three discourses all overlap one another at certain points but each also have much to tell us about the lives of these houses and their inhabitants.

The future of the project:  To bring this project to an end point I would consider further photography important. Aerial photography would be helpful in considering the impact and importance of the Core/Periphery discourse. Access to the inside of the larger properties, though hard to arrange due to health and safety concerns, would be beneficial for both the Highland and Status discourses. Access to the smaller properties is easy but the multiple story properties would be unsafe. This would be useful though as there may be much to document and compare in the interior of the grander sites.
Further, videos would be helpful to the project but due to time and equipment constraints I was unable to prepare any thus far. These videos would perhaps shed light on landscape, size and distance that photographs aren't able to provide.

So, in conclusion, I feel the project has provided good information and thinking points but that more may be done to pick out further codes and discourses leading to a more well balanced and conclusive visual research project.