Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Case Study: Tourism, Fashion & 'The Other'


The tourism section of this case study really peeked my interest because I think everyone is a culprit of this.  And by this, I mean travelling to a well-known area and taking those stereotypical monument photographs that are a “must-see”.  Now some people might visit these landmarks because they are aware of, and are interested in, the historical value.  But many go because it’s a sight that has been famously photographed countless times before, and they want to go and photograph it themselves.  
As the case study stated, these exotic images are meant to entice viewers.  Branching into the fashion portion of the case study, fashion photographer’s main goal is to make the ordinary look extraordinary, and vice versa.  So keeping any historical context out of it, what makes these “go-to” places so captivating to tourists besides having seen them photographed before?  
A quote that struck me as alarmingly true was, “Tourism creates its own culture for consumption”.  Again, as the case study states, tourists seek out these sites to photograph for themselves in order to feel that their trip is complete; therefore, we have created souvenir stands and cliché restaurants and all the cheesy things to appease tourists as they capture the perfect shot of an over-photographed location. 

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