Visual cultures Yeaqr 2 Journal 3

Tourism, landscape and myth

Tourism as myth

Photography is used to sell products in all tourist destinations. The majority of the worlds population will not realise actual photographer are commissioned to take photographs to go on these tourist items. 

Examples of tourist items people can buy with photographers photographs on them are, clothes such as, t shirts, jumpers etc. Also on post cards (being the main one), key rings or even travel brochures. 

Heres a few example of these:

The photography tourist see of famous landmarks and places becomes a fabricated idea of the actual place they expect to see it as it is in these photographs, which for the most part is glorified and made more beautiful than reality, this could be due to photoshop, the picture being taken in better weather conditions than when the tourist arrives, or it could simply be a dated photograph so the place or landmark looks older or more frail than in the image. 

It is not only the postcards etc that give an expectation to the tourist, photographers have been known to take images of these places which could give of different impressions depending on what the photographer wants to capture.

Martin Parr

 Source:  http://www.martinparr.com/2012/too-much-photography/

Martin Parr is an example of a photographer who specifically chose to pursue and capture images of tourists in tourist locations. This is an ongoing project that Parr has been working on for many years. His interest stems from how the tourists document their holiday's. It used to be more simple maybe using disposable cameras, but because of smart phones and high tech portable digital cameras it enables the modern day tourist to document their entire trip not just small fractions.

The thing that is most appealing about Parr's photographs of tourists is that he captures exactly what a person would think of when thinking of a stereotypical tourist.

Examples of his work over the years:

With this idea that tourists now more than ever view their experience on holiday through a lense or a smartphone, it brings across an idea that people are literally viewing life through the lense and not living and experiencing the moment. They are so focused on capturing the iconic sights they forget where they actually are.

Another issue with tourists is that they become obsessed with getting their picture taken in front of famous landmarks, as if if they don't have the photographic evidence that they were actually there, it was like they had never been at all. It all comes down to having to prove to their friends or family or even strangers that They were actually there.

Living the cultural experience

Adverts for holidays have been around for as long as people have vacationed, and one known fact about tourists is they want to live the cultural experience whilst an unfamiliar country, by doing things like eating local cuisine.

Adverts in the past have played on this idea in order to coax or interest possible tourists. Some tourist destinations reply a lot on tourists for income, in some cases tourists can keep the economy going. Therefore they were willing to do anything to get the tourists to come even if this meant exploiting the natives to make a place look more appealing.

Examples of this is:

Landscape as myth

Landscape paintings in the 18th and 19th century were not only used as ways of painting and documenting the everchanging land. It has been used as a means of showing off wealth.

The rich of the time wanted to almost show off to the rest of the world how much they had. They would ask that no only themselves be in the painting but all their land and livestock in some cases be in it. Some even depicted their workers within the painting to show that they could afford help to serve them and maintain the land also.

Having land showed not only that you had great wealth but that you provided food for the people making you look like a giver to the people.

Examples:

Thomas Gainsborough: Mr and Mrs Andrews (a couple with time on their hands) 1748-1750

 

This image shows their land, and themselves. The clothes mr and mrs Andrews are wearing look expensive and a luxury for the times, the painting also features their dog and mr Andrews is holding a rifle signifying he had the leisure time to hunt, possibly implying he has help that tends to his land on his behalf.