Studying place practices and consumption through volunteer-employed photography

Abstract

This article argues that taking a practice theoretical approach is useful for obtaining a nuanced understanding of transnationally mobile persons’ development of place affiliation through their adoption or rejection of locally available consumption practices. In this way, we engage in the ongoing discussion about practice theory and in how to understand the co-constellation of things, bodies and mental activities in relation to consumption. Focusing on newcomers to a particular geographic setting highlights possibilities and constraints for practice retention and adaptation, as well as reflection upon such choices. Additionally, we argue that the employed data collection techniques, involving a combination of volunteer-employed photography with participants’ comments on their own photos and information about their socio-demographic profile, constitute a particularly apt approach for shedding light on evolving consumption practices in the face of geographic mobility, and how such practices may lead to the development of place affiliation.