Does a location being "touristy" diminish the value of photographing it?

TheGreatGasMaskMan · Apr 24, 2018

Over a month ago, I was talking with another photographer about Arizona, and she brought up Jerome, and I'd been there last year (though somewhat briefly, due to me having a 6:00 AM flight in Phoenix), and I said that Jerome didn't strike me as being very photographic due to it being very touristy. She was kind of shocked I said this, and I'm sure other people here would react the same way. But this got me thinking, Can touristy places still produce quality photographs? And to challenge my own point, here's some images I took in Jerome this year on a 12ish years expired provia 100.

summicron1 · Apr 24, 2018

sure they can, although sometimes it can be difficult. Every time I go to Vegas I am so repulsed by the fakeness of it all that my camera barely leaves its bag.

hoffy · Apr 25, 2018

Of course it can.

Poisson Du Jour · Apr 25, 2018

Does a location being "touristy" diminish the value of photographing it?

Not if you have a uniquely different way of photographing that location/feature or by committing it to a format that has not been seen or done before e.g. wet plate, pinhole, multi-exposure, lith film... endless possibility limited only to one's imagination. Going to a location and photographing the same thing in the same way as legions of others is self-defeating, but it can serve as a springboard to getting the abovementioned task under way: looking at the image and considering how you (not others!) could make it different and/or better, but not the same.

Kevin Caulfield · Apr 25, 2018

It doesn't decrease the value. It increases the challenge of doing something original. Try to find a different viewpoint, a different context, a wider or longer view, or a view of the viewers viewing.

railwayman3 · Apr 25, 2018

Kevin Caulfield said:
It doesn't decrease the value. It increases the challenge of doing something original. Try to find a different viewpoint, a different context, a wider or longer view, or a view of the viewers viewing.

I agree entirely.

There is also the point of the reason we are taking photos....are we wanting to produce something original and artistic, are we enjoying the pleasure of just taking photos, both from the intention of producing a great result and handling any technical challenges, or are we making a record to look back in the future on times and places we have enjoyed. None of these are incompatible, and that is the great pleasure of our hobby,

blockend · Apr 25, 2018

Tourists traps are great, because like sunsets everyone is looking one way. Turn your camera in the opposite direction.

removed account4 · Apr 25, 2018

location matters almost as much as brand of camera or film ...

Ian Grant · Apr 25, 2018

When in Turkey/Greece I mainly shoot in tourist areas, in some cases very busy. It's harder to get the shots I want but it can be done and they differ from the tourist shots.

Ian

darkosaric · Apr 25, 2018

blockend said:
Tourists traps are great, because like sunsets everyone is looking one way. Turn your camera in the opposite direction.

+1
Perfect example is HCB and coronation of King George VI.

guangong · Apr 25, 2018

If by touristy you mean places like Vas Vegas,they provide opportunities galore. If,on the other hand, you mean famous sites flooded by sight seeing, conditions can be very difficult to photograph because of obstruction by crowds. Now it seems most tourists have no real interest in such sites other than to take a selfy. For example, didn’t expect to see such masses of humanity visiting monuments in Egypt. Most pictures published were shot by arrangement with authorities.

jeffreyg · Apr 25, 2018

Try going to the "touristy" location at sunrise or if you want to do "street" photography. I have gotten many of my favorite images at what would be considered tourist locations. After all when I am there I am a tourist. Most of the images in albums 2,3 and4 on my website were taken when I was a tourist at those locations.

http://www.jeffreyglasser.com/

Nodda Duma · Apr 25, 2018

Many places are touristy specifically because they are photogenic.

faberryman · Apr 25, 2018

TheGreatGasMaskMan said:
Can touristy places still produce quality photographs?

Places don't produce quality photographs; photographers do.

pdeeh · Apr 25, 2018

No

Sirius Glass · Apr 25, 2018

Does a location being "touristy" diminish the value of photographing it?

No, the value comes from the composition that you make. It is really about your ability to see, think and compose.

mark · Apr 25, 2018

I live less than 10 minutes from Antelope canyon. I have no desire to photograph it. The endless onslaught of Antelope Canyon photos leaves me with no desire. Plus the insane crowds are a total turn off. Horseshoe bend, one of my favorite places, is quickly becoming this way for me.

It maybe that I am at a point where the photograph is secondary to the experience of being there.

Eric Rose · Apr 25, 2018

jnanian said:
location matters almost as much as brand of camera or film ...

You funny boy! Or what developer you are using....

Old-N-Feeble · Apr 25, 2018

Touristy... as in Rome, Paris, Moscow, London, Yellowstone or Yosemite NP?

NJH · Apr 25, 2018

No one is holding a gun to your head forcing you to take postcard pictures.

slackercrurster · Apr 25, 2018

OP...none of this matter. Just roadblocks in your head.

Street photography is like fishing, sometimes you get a bite other times not. Just put in the footwork and see what you get. But you can never force it.

mooseontheloose · Apr 25, 2018

TheGreatGasMaskMan said:
Can touristy places still produce quality photographs?

Of course they can. Each photographer has different motivations and interests when it comes to photography. Some hate the "postcard" shot, others want to make their own. I live in a touristy place, probably the most touristed city in the country, yet it's still a photogenic place for the majority of people who come here. But I will admit that because I live here, and because I hate dealing with the crowds, it does force me to go beyond and find places that most people are not aware of. We don't always have that luxury when we travel. I'm not against the postcard shot (I've shot many myself), but it's often not very interesting and/or I find touristy places (mostly in the West, but Japan as well) to be quite sterile, and lacking personality.

Sirius Glass · Apr 25, 2018

slackercrurster said:
OP...none of this matter. Just roadblocks in your head.

Street photography is like fishing, sometimes you get a bite other times not. Just put in the footwork and see what you get. But you can never force it.

Yes, it takes patience to get photographs without people.

Eric Rose · Apr 25, 2018

Sirius Glass said:
Yes, it takes patience to get photographs without people.

Or an alarm clock so you get up before those pesky humans.

mooseontheloose · Apr 25, 2018

Sirius Glass said:
Yes, it takes patience to get photographs without people.

Yes, or a tripod and long exposure to blur them out.

Does a location being "touristy" diminish the value of photographing it?

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