Geography timed essay (25 minutes)
For a place that you have studied, assess the extent to which different forms such as
advertising copy, tourist agency material, art (film, photography, story, song etc) can give
contrasting images to that presented formally or statistically, such as cartography or census
data. (20 marks)
In the case of Ventnor in the Isle of Wight, both present and past format representation, such
as historical cartography, current land use maps, and the secondary census statistics, have
created, to some extent, similar, but also differing images to the image presented through
informal, qualitative and primary data such as interviews, art projects, and survey. The
contrasting images of the demography and the economy of the area are represented through
different media as well as over time and the changing forms of presentations.
Different media have suggested various images of Ventnor related to the demography of the
place. Both the formal and informal forms have showed that Ventnor have a very old
population with lack of racial diversity. For instance, secondary data of the demographics of
Ventnor state that only 16% of the population is young and the largest age group is middle
aged, with 48%, and that 27% of the population is aged 65 years or above. In Ventnor, only
5.7% of the population is born outside the UK and 95.5% of the population is white. This is
further supported by informal media such as a survey, in which people stated a word to
describe Ventnor, and the common phrasing included peaceful, beautiful, and home,
suggesting that there are many people who have lived here for long, creating the image of
Ventnor as a place to move to after retirement. The old postcards from 1930s and 1980s with
people on beach (mainly white) looking formal, and with grandparents and the grandson also
suggest the lack of diversity and creating an image of posh place for the privileged and for the
elderlies, although the current economic statistics may suggest else. The arts events such as
Ventnor fringe, however, have shifted the image from a traditional town for elderlies, to more
youthful and eventful place. There were not significant differences between the images created
through quantitative and qualitative measures, even overtime, and the image for the
demographics seem consistent throughout the differences.
There were gaps in image created around the economic aspects of Ventnor. For example, the
postcards suggest that the place was for privileged and wealthy people, however, a half of the
residents of Ventnor are among the 20% most deprived nationally and 10.7% of the population
is unemployed. The sense of deprivation is also suggested through qualitative and primary data
of interview of the mayor of Ventnor who stated that some of the youth clubs were completely
run down, and the deprived areas were seen on the secondary and quantitative data of the
