Abstract (150 Words)
Travel photography is rarely examined despite its significance in shaping tourism experience. This study aims to fill the research gap by examining the meaning of posting and sharing travel photographs online as well as the selection process of online photo-sharing. Methods of this ethnographic study involve semi-structured interviews with the producers and visual analysis of their online travel photographs. The findings suggest different meanings of online travel posting, while producers are found to be conscious about potential impacts on their self image when they select photographs for sharing. The study reveals the complexity of tourist-produced photographs which cannot be examined with textual analysis alone. Tourists may adopt different self presentation tactics to select photographs for online sharing. Thus, the extent to which tourist-produced photographs can represent their travel experience is called into question.
The Production of Online Travel Photography
Travel photography is rarely examined despite its significance in shaping tourism experience. This study aims to fill the research gap by examining the meaning of posting and sharing travel photographs online as well as the selection process of online photo-sharing. Methods of this ethnographic study involve semi-structured interviews with the producers and visual analysis of their online travel photographs. The findings suggest different meanings of online travel posting, while producers are found to be conscious about potential impacts on their self image when they select photographs for sharing. The study reveals the complexity of tourist-produced photographs which cannot be examined with textual analysis alone. Tourists may adopt different self presentation tactics to select photographs for online sharing. Thus, the extent to which tourist-produced photographs can represent their travel experience is called into question.
