Travelling gazes

Exercise 25 - write a reflective commentary on the first chapter on John Urry's 'The Tourists Gaze', discuss its relevance to documentary photography.

There are number of questions raised by Urry in this chapter:

1. Why do we travel?
2. How do we see?
3. Does what we want to see create our need to travel?

Accepting that travel, certainly foreign travel, is a modern convention, it begs the question - why do we travel?

The obvious answers: -

Ø         In this modern culture, we have less quality time for ourselves therefore, we treat ourselves and make our memories of it as special as we can

Ø         We are more able to travel than our predecessors because (a) we have more disposable income and (b) the 'world' is much more easily accessible to us

Ø         Urry comments that, in part, we travel because it enables us to define ourselves in relation to others - in other words, it enables us to fit with our peer group; or more importantly to rise above our peer group in terms of status.

Once abroad, how do we go about actively creating those memories - how exactly do we see?

Part of the discussion in Urry's paper brought to mind a conversation re-told in Galen Rowall's book Mountain Light, when an old Sherpa was commenting on 'the vision' (or not) of tourists 

"Many people come, looking, looking, taking picture....... No good......

Some people come, see. Good!"

I believe this very succinctly communicates what Urry was trying to say.

We are bombarded by mass media, it is unavoidable in this day and age; thus there is no doubt this media informs our individual 'world view', again this is unavoidable. So, do we travel to tick-off the sights? Or, do we travel to enrich our lives and develop ourselves into more rounded, more understanding and better informed individuals? Or, for both?

Looking at the amount of repetition on the web, one might have to concede Urry's point, that we go abroad just to tick-off the sights... In reality, I genuinely don't believe this to be the case, just because people want and need to take the iconic images (I include myself in this grouping) doesn't mean that this is the sole purpose of the travel or that we/I am unable to see and create other images that are much more meaningful on a personal level. In the creation of these individual images, I accept that my upbringing, my experience, my politics, etc; my overall baggage, influences my objectivity and ultimately my photographs. Especially because of this 'personal' objectivity, I find it interesting that so many people are driven to take the iconic images at famous tourist locations.

Finally, does what we want to see create our need to travel? In other words, does our need to tick-off the iconic sights and maintain our status, drive us around the world?

I believe that there are travellers and Travellers, that is, the list tickers and the genuine explorers of the unknown. Similarly, there are non-travellers (voyeurs?) who are more than happy to sit in the comfort of their own homes and watch far-off places on a screen. In terms of the impact of mass media - I believe sometimes it drives us towards a place and other times it drives away form a place!

So, why is this relevant to documentary photography?

A photographer visits a place; then takes a photograph of/in that place; then shares those images. The photographer, professional or not - it little matters, is documenting the people, the place, the situation, the scenario, competently or not - again it little matters. These very subjective views (of the individual) are actual documents of the world (records of events) and fundamentally influence the viewer and the attitude of the viewer towards what they are viewing.

Tourism is a multi-billion pound industry and given the tourists need to experience the new and yet familiar - Urry's reference to New York City, it is hardly surprising the efficacy of all photography in this global business. By the same token, these photographs enable the industry and the tourist to work together in creating and delivering the desired fantasy; thus ensuring the perfect memory of a perfect holiday. Holidays, by their very nature, are an attempt at escapism by the individual - for a pre-determined period of time, the person, can be somewhere else or be somebody else or both.

Tourists document their holidays for others to see; thus enabling others to replicate and improve upon the experience. This 'improved' experience is also documented in images and shared; thus creating a repeating pattern.