Photogeomorphological studies of Oxford stone : a review

This paper surveys work in geomorphology that incorporates photography to study landforms and landscape change. Since this is already a large area of study, the city centre of Oxford, UK is adopted as a case study for focus. The paper reviews broader literature pertaining to ‘photogeomorphology’ since the 1960s and delves into contemporary publications for Oxford geomorphology. Developments in the general field do not embrace close-range ground-based photography, favouring aerial photography and remote sensing. The author postulates that, as evident in the Oxford studies, that the subdiscipline should be less fixated on landscape-scale approaches and also employ close-up ground-based photography and rephotography in the assessment of landforms and landscape change. This broader scale of application could benefit the study of stone soiling and decay (weathering) studies as smaller forms may be overlooked.