20-MAR-2008
View from the gallery, Amber Palace, Jaipur, India, 2008
Centuries ago, the women of the royal court would peer through this window to see who was coming and going at the palace. It was forbidden for them to be seen by men. Today, tourists look at other tourists from that same window. I found the body language of these tourists to be very typical -- some hang on every word their guide speaks. Others tend to look elsewhere. And some like myself prefer to spend their time making photographs.
26-MAR-2008
On tour, Fatehpur Sikri, India, 2008
The Emperor Akbar’s famous abandoned palace draws almost as many tourists as the Taj Mahal. I caught one tour getting both an eye and ear full from their guide while standing in the shade of one of its many doorways. I only show the hand of the guide, who seems to be answering a question from one of his tour members. I abstract them as silhouettes, and make them seem very small in comparison to the vast palace complex.
26-MAR-2008
Sunrise at the Taj, Agra, India, 2008
The Taj Mahal is India's premier tourist attraction. Thousands of camera bearing tourists converge on it at dawn to see its marble dome turn pink with the rising sun. For me, the tourists were as much the story as the building itself. Everyone wants to make the famous post card view, and then have a picture made of themselves standing in front of that view. This ritual is part of the lure of travel. Almost every traveler would want to see the Taj Mahal before they die, and commemorate that moment by making a picture of it. And this image commemorates that ritual.
26-MAR-2008
Chimping, Agra Fort, India, 2008
“Chimping” is a new term, describing the sound that digital photographers make when reviewing their images for the first time on their LCD screens. An “ooo, ooo, ooo” sound can be heard, a sound very much like that of a happy chimpanzee. This tourist is chimping silently in the chambers of Agra’s magnificent fort. She is using her precious time to look at photographs of the fort, instead of the real thing. But I can excuse her. I do it all the time myself. We all do. Comparing our pictures to our intentions on the spot is one of digital imaging’s greatest gifts. Even if we do miss a few moments of sightseeing.
21-DEC-2007
Exhaustion, The Citadel, Hue, Vietnam, 2007
There’s nothing like a cool wall and set of stairs when the temperature is pushing 90 degrees Fahrenheit with 80 per cent humidity. I made this image of a fellow tourist while visiting the vast Hue Citadel, Imperial City and Forbidden City. The photograph speaks for itself – any veteran tourist has been there.
10-JAN-2008
What elephant? Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 2008
I thought I had taken my last picture of the trip. The camera was capped, and we about to take a cab to the airport, when suddenly an elephant appeared, like magic, on Phnom Penh’s riverside avenue. By the time I was ready to shoot, the elephant was well past me, but that’s where the picture was. I thought it would be incongruous just to show an elephant from behind walking down a city street. I made a picture and hoped for the best. When I looked at the image I was delighted to see that it was even more incongruous than I had hoped. There is a tourist grimly walking towards the elephant and apparently takes no notice of it. Does he see elephants on city streets every day? Or is so determined to get where he is going that he does not even see it? Whatever the answer may be, it is a doubly incongruous image. The image itself may not be a work of photographic art – there are many irrelevant details in it. But the incongruity is so strong that the image survives its aesthetic flaws and is worth including in this gallery about the tourist in all of us. Why was the elephant walking down the street in the first place? I asked our guide, and he said that some tourists enjoy having their picture taken on its back (for a price, of course) and that it is often paraded down this street in search of business! I am certain that this fellow is not a likely customer.
26-DEC-2007
Piglet hunt, Suoida, Vietnam, 2007
While visiting a village housing descendants of the Cham people, a member of our tour spotted a pair of baby pigs and was determined to get a picture of them. After a vigorous chase, the piglets finally gave in and allowed him his pleasure. I photographed him from behind as he bagged his quarry. I thought the scene was incongruous -- the scale difference was enormous, and while the man seems quite intent on his mission (he even bends at the knees to get a bit closer), the piglets seem to have lost interest in everything but searching for stray snacks.
08-SEP-2007
Confused, Shanghai, China, 2007
For those of us who do not speak or read any of the Chinese languages, independent travel in China can be difficult at best. In this image I contrast the conversational differences between locals and tourists on a Shanghai street corner. I photographed these people from the other side of the street, shooting intermittently as traffic permitted. The two Chinese women are at ease as they take chat over a fence. The seem as if they are in their own backyards, and pay no attention to the pair of confused tourists standing next to them, who seem to wondering where they are going next and trying to figure out how to get there. Their body language and costume clearly separate them from the Chinese women, even though they may stand inches apart. It came as no surprise that their gestures echoed each other. People will often subconsciously echo the body language of others.
13-SEP-2007
Painful pose, Pingyao, China, 2007
Pingyao draws many tourists to its ancient sites, most of them Chinese. Commercial photographers offer to take pictures of them wearing traditional headdresses or sitting in old rickshaws. I watched this tourist as she posed in a headdress – at first she was smiling, but as the session wore on, her expression changed. I don’t think she is having fun.
10-SEP-2007
In the Fuzi Miao, Nanjing, China, 2007
The enormous dragon is pure 21st century theatre, at the center of Nanjing’s busiest tourist area, the Fuzi Miao. A carnival atmosphere prevails over a labyrinth of squares filled with souvenir and antique shops and stalls selling food. This woman is taking a breather, incongruously ignoring the fury of the dragon just behind her.
29-DEC-2006
Lost, Marrakesh, Morocco, 2006
It is very easy to lose yourself in Marrakesh. The streets are usually not marked, and if they are, the signs are in Arabic. Maps are useless. Most of the smaller streets in its vast medina are not shown on them. These tourists may never find what they are looking for. But chances are they will find something else that is just as fascinating. I saw this scene as a stage set – the background is very characteristic of Marrakesh: old, in disrepair, and rich in color and texture. The tourists are playing their parts perfectly – I could not ask for more expressive body language. Although I was standing directly across the street from them, they never noticed me. They were totally engrossed in their own issues.
27-SEP-2006
Old Faithful, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, 2006
The most famous geyser at Yellowstone is Old Faithful. It adjoins its namesake, Old Faithful Inn, where hundreds of tourists gather every 90 minutes to watch a five-minute display of erupting steam and water. I made this picture from the second story observation terrace of the Inn, using a 320mm telephoto lens. I wanted to express the idea that tourists react differently to a geyser, even the most famous of them. I shot this picture when the geyser had been erupting for several minutes. It had a couple more minutes to run. Yet a fellow on the left end of the bench finds his reading more important that watching the geyser. And four people have actually turned away and are leaving the scene now that the geyser is showing signs of receding. Tourists are hard to please. And even a world famous attraction such as Old Faithful can’t hold the attention of everyone any longer.
