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...photographic (Sharer, Hamilton, Schmidt, 1969). Since that time, the uses of visual imagery in leisure research have been slow to develop. Only recently has visual imagery re-emerged and has been adapted to diverse set of questions. Few other approaches have the same potential to reinvigorate our search for understanding and development of the practice. The potential contribution of visual images is not centered on more data or incremental advancement. Visual leisure research provides a different kind of data that repositions research questions in ways that verbal information is not able to do. As part of the repositioning, visual leisure has tremendous potential to democratize research through an expanded accessibility of data, an enhanced transparency of argument, and an empowerment of lay people in research-based policy and planning processes. The relevance of leisure research is strengthened, and bridges are built between researchers and practitioners, due to new lines of communication being opened. Visual leisure affords the exploration of strategies for dialogue among researchers, planners, citizens, and other groups of people.
The purposes of this special issue are to recognize the contribution of visual imagery to leisure research, and to illustrate the potential of visual leisure to address emerging research questions. Our essay defines the visual approach through a review of leisure-related literature and draws insights from scholars across the social sciences. Problems with both visual literacy and representation of leisure contexts are developed as central motivations for producing this special issue. While we encourage a wider application of visual images in leisure research, the use of visual imagery is not without its challenges.
Increasing Visual Literacy
Conducting research with visual images is not new to leisure studies. Since the 1980s, photographs have been used routinely to measure the scenic quality and visual attraction of leisure environments (Brown, Richards, Daniel, & King, 1989; Jones, Patterson, & Hammitt, 2000; Nasar, 1987; Phillipp, 1993; Ruddell, & Hammitt, 1987; Schroeder, 1983; Vining, Daniel, & Schroeder, 1984; Westphal, 2003). Visual images have been instrumental in studying visitor perceptions of on-site social and bio-physical conditions (Behan, Richards, & Lee, 2001; Hammitt, 1981; Manning, Valliere, & Wang, 1999; Schroeder, & Anderson, 1984; Shelby & Harris, 1985). Image-based research has provided insight to the influence of photographs for shaping memories of tourist experiences (Markwell, 1997) and to ways in which visual media reflect and reproduce discourses of power (Bolla, 1990; Cohen, Nir, & Almoeor, 1992; Mellinger, 1994). Photography also has provided a means of representing children's leisure and their use of leisure environments (Cunningham & Jones, 1996). In short, the leisure research community has worked with visual images in a diversity of ways and has appreciated the insights that would not have been garnered without visual imagery. Nevertheless, the accomplishments made through visual approaches are not widely attributed to using a visual approach. In addition, although the leisure literature has developed some lines of research that recognize visual dimensions as relevant to understanding leisure, the field has been reluctant to fully integrate visual dimensions across the range of topics. However we are optimistic about the potential to build on the legacy of visual leisure research in order to see leisure from new perspectives.
Use of visual evidence in the physical and life sciences is a comparatively ordinary occurrence, yet such evidence in the leisure journals is rare. For example, over the past 15 years of Journal of Leisure Research there has been just one issue that contained an article presenting visual images other than maps or diagrams. This rare occurrence of visual presentation within our published literature is not an accurate reflection of its history within leisure research. It has served several functions in the collection of data, design of methods, and documentation of the research process. Yet even though visual imagery has worked its way into many of our research processes, collectively we have found visual imagery to be secondary when presenting the substance and methods of our published research. In her argument for a reflexive methodology of leisure research, Dupuis (1999) suggests that we need to be more honest in the portrayal of our research process. By extending her argument one could claim that use of visual imagery and its influence on our knowledge base is one of the "naked truths" of leisure research.
Visual imagery is a dominant aspect of western culture, and has a powerful influence on our leisure. Visual imagery whether through photographs, television, magazine advertisements, video games, and so forth, is a central feature of everyday life (Bloustien, 2003). Images have become significant "cultural symbols" epitomizing the ways in which we experience and interpret life events (Natharius, 2004, p. 2). Several scholars have argued that our everyday life is so saturated with visual imagery that "distinctions between the real and the simulated become blurred" (Kincheloe & McLaren, 2000, p. 284). Indeed, "hyperreality" has been explained as a social reality in which the continual barrage of visual data leads to an inability to distinguish image from reality within one's daily routine (Boorstin, 1964; Bruner, 1994; Kincheloe & McLaren, 2000). It is not always clear if our thoughts and behavior acquiesce to the appeal of the images we see, if images are simply reflections of ourselves, or if images act as a dominant narrative representing normative visions for behavior. To fully understand leisure, the relationships between visual simulation, imagery, and social reality need further exploration.
Research that explores the translation of visual imagery into meaningful information is connected to "visual literacy" (Fransecky & Debes, 1972; Gombrich, 1972; Messaris, 1994). Natharius (2004) states his premise simply as "the more we know, the more we see" (p. 240) and suggests that visual literacy is enhanced through personal experience and acquisition of knowledge. Stated differently, the meanings of images, whether photographs or other forms of visual media, are social constructions whose cultural contexts enable interpretation (Harper, 2000). They...
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