Professional Documents
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Tourism and Photography
Tourism and Photography
He describes the
normal behaviour of the devotees of a particular cult. These devotees are in fact tourists
His theory is based on the idea that the tourist’s camera defines the tourist’s experience,
establishes the definitions of reality according to this experience and gives the tourist
the chance to own the space and time where and when the tourist is tourist, as no other
mean has been able to do before. As Susan Sontag says “To collect photographs is to
collect the world”3 and “To photograph is to appropiate the thing photographed.”4 The
tourist becomes a tourist as much as he/she is able to possess the photographed, which
This experience the tourist seeks to possess through photography is directly affected by
nostalgia. In addition to Horne’s idea of past5, John Frow studies the relationship
between tourism and nostalgia in his Tourism and the Semiotics of Nostalgia6. Tourism
has developed at the same time than mass culture has made the experience available to
all through cameras: “from the observing traveler to the possessive tourist, and from the
world as being to the world as simulacrum.”7 To find out how this change has come
about it is necessary to consider the main developments within the photographic world
1
Donald Horne, The Great Museum: The Re-presentation of History (London: Pluto Press Limited,
1984), p. 1.
2
Donald Horne, The Great Museum: The Re-presentation of History (London: Pluto Press Limited,
1984), p. 12.
3
Susan Sontag, On Photography (London: Penguin Books, 1979), p. 3.
4
Susan Sontag, On Photography (London: Penguin Books, 1979), p. 4.
5
Donald Horne, The Great Museum: The Re-presentation of History (London: Pluto Press Limited,
1984), p. 26.
6
John Frow, ‘Tourism and the Semiotics of Nostalgia’, October, 57 (1991), 123-151.
7
John Frow, ‘Tourism and the Semiotics of Nostalgia’, October, 57 (1991), 123-151 (p. 142).
John Taylor refers to “the illusion of ownership” that country guides offered the lower
and middle classes in England from the 1920’s to the 1940’s8 . As this particular period
of history enabled the creation of a lower to middle class in England who sought after
the stability and security that the Great War had taken away, Taylor explains that
tourism in the countryside grew dramatically, at the same time that Kodak cameras were
made available to the majority of the population. As the industrial era came about, mass
consumption increased. The period in-between wars saw the phenomenon of tourism
reach through class divisions, and camera in hand, English people learned a new idea of
picturesque countryside which gave the nation a notion of identity. It was the un-spoilt
non-urban spaces that captivated the imagination of the masses appealing through once
again nostalgia to recover the shaken English values after the First World War: “ The
guides focused upon history, topography, and antiquarian interest, demonstrated the
As the urban centres were growing unstopably, the appeal of the rural, the yet
undiscovered and unvisited, the roots of England, increased side by side. In a world
where changes were too quick to understand, the people sought refuge in the past, and
took along their Kodak cameras so that they could own that piece of the past and take it
home.
Brochures and travel books depicting this ideal of countryside found their place in the
Morton:
8
John Taylor, ‘Kodak and the ‘English’ Market between the Wars’, Journal of Design History, 7, No. 1
(1994), 29-42 (p. 31).
9
John Taylor, ‘Kodak and the ‘English’ Market between the Wars’, Journal of Design History, 7, No. 1
(1994), 29-42 (p. 31).
The idea of English countryside, unspoilt green spaces and serenity is expressed through
In the following early Kodak advert 10 the idea of owning photographs as a way of
owning an experience and making it real it is clear. The illustration depicts a moment of
leisure, leisure time that had been commodified inasmuch society had become
industrial. Kodak persuades the masses that the fun it is not to be had for the sake of it,
but it is to be photographed, as the fun part of it is to show the photographs, to make the
10
http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/eaa/kodak/K04/K0422-72dpi.jpeg
In the following example of Kodak advertisement the ownership of time is being
referred to again. The idea that the tourist moment can be revisited time and time again
without the same expense of travel and money whenever we please is illustrated11. The
photographs used on the advertisement to show the travellers’ experience depict every
action they are expected to take on a given trip: they are seen loading the vehicle with
lugagge, setting up their tents, canooing through a river... every photo shows an idea
that the social imagination produces, towards which everyone can aspire to. The viewers
are shown what they should do once in the countryside, the photographs spell it out for
them. The language of the image, the copy of the reality of a moment is more powerful
than the text. The idea of nature and wilderness as opposed to the life in the city is
depicted through photographs of exotic animals. The iconic idea of leisure that is
11
http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/eaa/kodak/K03/K0364-72dpi.jpeg
printed in the common social mind is only real because it can be seen through
In the following photogaph taken by Bill Brandt in 1947 Stonehenge is depicted under
period between the World Wars. The viewer can immediately relate to the photo, even
though they might have never visited the site, it is understood it stands for English
culture and past, heritage and identity. Once exposed to this representation of England
unlimitedly it is safely assumed that these are not just stones put together hundreds of
years ago, but the nation has inherited the space therefore when visiting it becomes
necessary to photograph it to prove its existance. It is really just like its depiction as
12
Hill Brandt Stonehenge Under Show 1947
http://www.vam.ac.uk/vastatic/microsites/photography/photographer.php?photographerid=ph011&row=1
As the cultural space called Stonehenge becomes its photograph, its representation gets
mass produced:
Originally the silhoutte of stones could represent only the expression of an ancient
culture. It then gets photographed to become an icon and develop a meaning without the
spatial factor. Then it makes its way onto the brochures and postcards to advertise its
non existent self. The postcard is a vital show of the experience as a tourist visiting
Stonehenge. Stongehenge as a circle of stones has long ago lost its original meaning, to
Steven Hoelscher approaches the history of the relationship between tourism and
photography from the American point of view. In his article about photographer H.H.
Bennett he says: “Acquiring photographs gives shape to travel as it informs what the
viewer should see, how it should be seen, and when it should be seen- all in a matter-of-
an essential aid to the widespread of tourism as a mass-culture activity. Using the same
example already used, when visiting Stonehenge the viewer is told what it is to be seen,
By exposure and acquired cultural education it is understood that the tourist needs to
photograph the visited space as otherwise its existence in the tourist reality is
jeopardized. The two images above show the Blue Mosque in Istanbul. The left image is
a postcard from the beginning of the XX century14. The right image belongs to a
personal experience as a visitor in Istanbul. Not only the photograph needs to be taken
13
Steven Hoelscher, ‘The Photographic Construction of Tourist Space in Victorian America’,
Geographical Review, 88, No. 4, J.B. Jackson and Geography (1998), pp. 548-570 (p. 549).
14
http://www.old-istanbul.com/Page5/sahmet2.jpg
as the tourist has been taught that their memory is not enough to guarantee and preserve
its existance. If the tourist can be framed in the photograph the experience is
personalized. The tourist was there as the photograph can proof. The qualities of the
camera makes it very difficult to dispute the reality of the tourist. A painting used to be
the means to protrait a scene. Photography is trustworthy. There is no doubt that these
tourists were in Istanbul. They might not know much about the Blue Mosque. What they
do know is that to be able to experience the tourist visit it is required that they
photograph it and if feasable, they appear in the frame to make Istanbul truly theirs.
whereby means like the internet an individual is able to “be” in several places at the
same time (new concepts like “working from home” or “business travellers” have
invaluable. Text and language belong to the multicultural society, they are varied and
they are not accessible to all. Images can be understood by all. The tourist experience
through a lense has become a new type of discourse in contemporary times. A new
language that can be talked by all, shared by all and understood by all.
guide15 show what Benidorm should be for the visitors. For the English tourist market
15
http://www.benidorm.world-guides.com/benidorm_attractions.html
Benidorm is transformed to a cheap holiday with sea and Sun. Benidorm is no longer a
Spanish coastal town. Benidorm is an experience available for all at affordable prices.
British visitors are exposed to this image of the holiday: the Sun shines, the beaches are
bursting with life, the swimming pools are safely crowded with kids. It has become a
week of cheap food and drinks, of Sun and sand. Even the idea of an urban centre
behind Benidorm has been shed a while ago. As a mimic reaction, the tourist will
imitate and copy this meaning time and time again. With cameras they will be able to
reproduce the experience and make it everlasting, communicating through them the
But nowadays this kind of tourist experience is only one of many. As mass-culture
reaches its peak, the offer for so-called alternative tourists diversifies and grows. We can
be certain that even the most anti-tourist traveller will be catered for.
As these photographs show16 there is also another type of tourist. One more interested in
an individual personalized experience, which hopefully enriches him/her and fills them
16
http://www.travelwithachallenge.com/Consulting.htm
with knowledge. Still, the photographic language is a very familiar one. The photograph
shows the activity to be had, the monument to pose next to. The website photograph
shows the photograph that needs to be taken. They still educate the viewer in the
In this first example of anti-tourism photograph it can be safely assumed that the
photograph was actually taken by a tourist17. Does his or her tourist experience differ to
others as they are not trying to appropiate the local cultural heritage with their cameras?
They are still making a memento of their experience to take with them, whether they are
in agreement with such a statement or not. It still shows and proofs that they were there,
not only that, they can assume that their experience was even more real as they dared to
17
http://www.flickr.com/photos/weeche/216591856/
The tourist identity has been determined by the camera and the experience it provides
them with:
Both these examples of photography18 depict the iconic idea of the meaning of tourist.
Tourists do not have eyes anymore. They have cameras and through them they are able
to see the world. Without them the world is not their reality. On group holidays taking
the photograph has become more important than admiring the sight. Tourists are told
they will have time to take the necessary photograph so that their visit is worthwhile.
Photography enables the tourist to exist. Both as a subject of the photograph or as the
viewer the tourist can’t escape its power. The tourist is bound to feel a certain degree of
18
http://cache.viewimages.com/xc/3225881.jpg?v=1&c=ViewImages&k=2&d=27D044C0A019FA6C310
FCDDE3EA62152A55A1E4F32AD3138 and http://www.flickr.com/photos/erin_nicole/2142473499/
frustration precisely because of this. Frow cites Levi-Strauss when dealing with the
Irresoluble Paradox: “the less one culture communicates with another, the less likely
they are to be corrupted, one by the other; but, on the other hand, the less likely it is, in
such conditions, that the respective emissaries of these cultures will be able to seize the
traveler in ancient times, and faced with a prodigious spectacle which would be almost
search of the symbols exposed by photography, symbols they are familiar with and are
able to comprehend, hence the need to make the icon ours. Comfronted with symbols
and signs not able to understand, tourists lose their quality of tourist, become not
interested at its best, possibly apathetic and intolerant once challenged by a reality that it
is not theirs, and it will never be theirs as they cannot relate to it nor own it. There is a
certain degree of anxiety when visiting a well known cultural enclave and tourists are
not able to confirm and fulfill their expectations by visiting the symbol of such place. It
is only when the tourists look back at the photographs of themselves on the Empire
State Building that they can safely say and assume they were indeed in New York City.
They could have been anywhere else in the world, up until that moment when they are
able to make the city theirs, as the city is the Empire State Building:
19
John Frow, ‘Tourism and the Semiotics of Nostalgia’, October, 57 (1991), 123-151 (p. 132).
It is only once the Empire State Building is seen20 the tourist can rest assured they are in
New York.
Using the common language of photography, nostalgia gives the tourist experience an
insolvable paradox: “This is the paradox of the impossible appropiation of the Other
repeated with an economic vengeance; and it is a paradox that rebounds, since any place
at all can become the cultural Other of tourism”.21The search of a utopian reality throws
the tourists into the world, makes them shoot the cultural reference they are familiar
with, lets them think it becomes theirs and enables them to go back happily thinking
they own a portion of the world and its past. It is only when the moment of realization
of this paradox becomes real that the tourist experience becomes frustrated. Still, the
mass-culture and capitalist mechanisms to protect their experience are many and
20
http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/pic/40/013_MR749~Empire-State-Building-Posters.jpg
21
John Frow, ‘Tourism and the Semiotics of Nostalgia’, October, 57 (1991), 123-151 (p. 151)..
Horne, Donald, The Great Museum: The Re-presentation of History (London: Pluto
Taylor, John , ‘Kodak and the ‘English’ Market between the Wars’, Journal of Design
Frow, John, ‘Tourism and the Semiotics of Nostalgia’, October, 57 (1991), 123-151.
America’, Geographical Review, 88, No. 4, J.B. Jackson and Geography (1998), pp.
548-570.