TJ Cole: Take Photo Here

In his article for the New York Times “Take a Photo Here”, Teju Cole laments the lack of originality present in a contemporary world saturated with imagery. Since the age of the mobile phone, he argues, the aggregate likes of the populous can be summarised as dogs, cats, sunrises, sunsets, selfies, meals, etc. This claim rings true, from personal experience the images that I see on social media reflect his position. I am with him wholeheartedly in lamenting our lack of originality and imagination.

Cole suggests that one reason is; that we aspire to create imagery similar to that which we admire, often created by influencers, celebrities, or famous photographers. We then strive to mimic those photographs when visiting travel destinations, in an attempt to create a replica of that which our eyes have previously devoured.

In addition to our aspirations, which drive our pictorial ambition, Cole identifies a further factor influencing the nature of our images. Referring to a personal visit made to the Roman Forum, an impressive ancient location and a huge tourist attraction in Rome, Cole exposes corporate manipulation of Forum visitors by the site owners, by using set walking routes and the encouragement of photograph taking at specific points along it.

From my own viewing of (sadly) photographic influencers on YouTube, I have witnessed videos of the large crowds surrounding famous photographic landmarks all competing for the perfect shot. The tranquil photographs of these places belie the reality, which is vast, noisy, crowds just out of shot.

Cole cites James Gibson’s term “affordances” devised in the 1960s, to describe what is happening to tourist photography and the output of amateur photographers (my emphasis). The term was redefined by Don Norman as Affordance being a strong clue to the operation of something from how it appears, and then further redefined by Joanna McGrenere, as the possible actions available to the individual regardless of their ability to recognise them. I see both of these definitions pertaining to the mobile phone camera and the acts of tourism and travel photography.

As a photographer who instinctively chooses non-photogenic subjects and abjures popularist imagery, I share the underlying disdain in Cole’s writing. I feel that the actions of owners of ancient sites and tourist attractions seek to protect their intellectual property, the views of their sites, by directing people towards specific, flattering, views. In the age of the omnipresent travel photograph it is more important now than ever before to control how a business is presented online, and with tourist sites how they look is vitally important.

In the UK, private locations, and ancient monuments on private land may be subject to copyright under the  1988 Copyright Act. Further afield, the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, adopted in 1886, explicitly protects works of artistic value incorporated into buildings, and works of architecture, in in countries that are signatory (Ezsias, 2024).

Inspired by Cole’s writing I created my own “Take Selfie Here” sign using Apple’s Freeform app and a photograph taken in my garden.

COLE, T., 2018. Take a Photo Here. The New York Times Magazine, 1st July, p. 14

EZSIAS, M., 2024. How are landmarks protected by Intellectual Property rights? [Viewed 03/11/2024]. Available from: https://www.citma.org.uk/resources/how-are-landmarks-protected-by-intellectual-property-rights-blog.html