Click the star to add/remove an item to/from your individual schedule.
You need to be logged in to avail of this functionality,
and to see the links to virtual rooms.
Log in
Accepted Paper:
An attempt to verify landscape changes at Wadi Fatima, Saudi Arabia, over a half-century using old photographs
Mitsuko Watanabe
(Nara Women's University)
Yuko Fujimoto
(Motoko Katakura Foundation for Desert Culture)
Hitoshi Endo
(National Institutes for the Humanities)
Hiroshi Nawata
(Akita University)
Fumi Furusawa
(Motoko Katakura Foundation For Desert Culture)
Paper short abstract:
This paper examines a half century of landscape changes in an oasis region using old photographs taken by the late Dr. Motoko Katakura, who conducted field surveys in the Wadi Fatima region, Saudi Arabia, beginning in the 1960s.
Paper long abstract:
The late Dr. Motoko Katakura conducted field surveys in Wadi Fatima, Saudi Arabia, beginning in the 1960s. Old survey materials, such as photographs and sketches left by pioneer researchers, are valuable because they record landscapes that are no longer present. Field photographs taken by Dr. Katakura are also very valuable materials that record the rural landscape of Saudi Arabia over the last half a century. This paper examined the half century of landscape changes in an oasis region using old photographs taken by the late Dr. Motoko Katakura in Wadi Fatima, Saudi Arabia.
To verify the changes in the landscape of Wadi Fatima using photographs taken by Dr. Katakura, it is necessary to identify the locations depicted in the photographs. First, we tried to narrow down the sites by organising and analysing Dr. Katakura's notes and descriptions. Then, we tried to identify the sites through observations and interviews with local people in a field investigation. Through this process, the locations of more than 100 photographs have been identified. These photographs show landscape changes in the rural and urban areas of Wadi Fatima.
This study showed that field photographs taken by pioneers are very useful for verifying landscape changes. A future comparative study should verify the landscape changes using photographic material left by Dr. Katakura and other pioneering researchers.