In the 15th century, you might have encountered
an image once a day, once a year, once in lifetime, or not at all. Today, we
are practically swimming in images. They’re all around us. And because of this
proliferation we take them as a given, natural occurrence.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย For
our culture, an image or picture is something that represents the way things
are. This is particularly true in the way we view the photographic image.
Photographs help us remember and describe the world, but mostly they allow us
to see things that are not immediately in front of us.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Quite
often, the original object is long gone, broken, faded, or eroded by time, but
the photograph remains. Of course, the picture is also an object that can fade
away. But it can always be reprinted and born again as a shiny, glossy surface
that is a window to all our desires.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย These
desires are currently on view in a new exhibition at the George Eastman House
entitled Site Seeing: Photographic
Excursions in Tourism. The exhibit centers on photographic images and films
that bring us closer to some faraway place — either a place where we yearn to
be or the one we’ve been to and want to continue revisiting through memories,
aided by the photograph.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย (So
it’s surprising that more people don’t visit the George Eastman House — the
Mecca of Image. It’s as if the sheer volume of images outside its walls
precludes the need to see the image as a cultural artifact that tells us
something about ourselves. The morning we visited it was like walking around a
tomb.)
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย We
should all go and see this exhibition. Besides seeing all those wonderful and
exemplary images — and there are many — we begin to see how the images or
pictures of site seeing have become a form of commodity that we buy, sell, and
endlessly perpetuate.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Essentially,
the actual site or place is that which we cannot possess. Or, at least, it is
something that we cannot have as a whole. We cannot have Yosemite Valley but we
may be able to have an Ansel Adams photograph of it, or a poster, a postcard,
or even a book with more views of our favorite site. Or, we can take our own
snapshot and remember the place as a fragmentary possession.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Roger
Minick’s photograph of the head of a woman overlooking Yosemite Valley while
wearing a scarf with designs depicting the same scene of the Valley and
“Yosemite” printed on it, epitomizes the irony of our desire to have the
unattainable, of wanting to have what we can never have.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย A
point that is not made by this exhibit or, at least, not made overtly, is the
idea that the actual site and its image are both commodities. And, like
anything else in our culture, they’re marketed and sold.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย A
photograph gives the illusion that somehow we can have what we seek. In this
way, we buy our memories. This seems to be particularly true with tourist
pictures, especially those images of exotic places like India, China, and the
Middle East. Nineteenth-century photographs of China by John Thomson and of
Egypt by Francis Frith present us with an exotic Orient, an Orient that has
been constructed through the images, mythologies, and stereotypes brought forth
by our own imagination.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย The
pictures exist as surfaces both literally and figuratively. As Edward Said once
wrote, ‘[t]he Orient was almost a European invention, and has been since
antiquity a place of romance, exotic beings, haunting memories and landscapes,
remarkable experiences.” Thus, by taking pictures or possessing an image, we
get to relive our possession of those worlds that were never ours to begin
with. Colonialism livesin tourism.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย And,
at the same time, the images of those Others are oddly, vaguely recognizable.
That’s what draws us in. So maybe we’re just really trying to buy — to
possess — ourselves, and it’s the photograph that puts that self right into our hands.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย These
pictures, as one of the didactic statements at the exhibit points out, define
our perception of the world. What follows, then, is that what we see and do is
determined by what we already have seen through pictures.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย In
her book, Believing Is Seeing, Mary
Anne Staniszewski points out that “[t]oday we live in a world where the image,
the reproduction, is more powerful than the original… The movies and the mass
media shape our expectations, our hopes, our dreams. These images and our life
often mirror each other. These images reinforce our conventions about the way
the world should be and the way things change and need to change some more.”
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย That
said, go to the George Eastman House and look at these images — not as
something we swim through everyday but as way to understand what we want.
Site Seeing: Photographic Excursions in
Tourism is on display at the George Eastman House, 900 East Avenue, through Sept 5. Hours: Tuesday
through Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Thursday until 8 p.m., Sunday 1 to 5 p.m.
Tix: $8, $6 seniors, $5 students, $3 kids. 271-3362, www.eastman.org.
This article appears in May 12-18, 2004.
