Tourism of Tourism
Issue 018, Volume Five | Fall 2019
Ziwei Huang, Picturesque, 2019.
Photo Courtesy of the artist.
Tourism of Tourism consists of twelve street photographs taken during Venice’s Carnival, an annual festival that attracts three million visitors. The series examines tourists in the act of looking, whether through their own eyes, digital cameras, or social media. By focusing on the tourists, the grand Venetian architecture, colourful houses, and gondolas fade into the background. Venice is under the inspection of tourist gaze, similar to an exhibition display to be viewed, investigated, and experienced. This tourist gaze has multiple meanings: a way of looking that inspires sentiment and stirs up memory; a gaze that seeks vibrant colors and balanced composition; and discoveries of wonder and delight. In this series, I also engage in my own tourist gaze, fascinated by photogenic views, designated tourist activities, kitsch commercial products, and people in their most candid states. Through my experience of Venice—wandering around and taking pictures—I seek to portray a more truthful experience of mass tourism. This photographic essay serves as a light-hearted satire on how photography and social media has reshaped tourist experience into an oversaturated, alienated, and dream-like state.
Ziwei Huang, A Room with a View, 2019.
Photo Courtesy of the artist.
Ziwei Huang, Daytime Meandering, 2019.
Photo Courtesy of the artist.
Ziwei Huang, Spritz, 2019.
Photo Courtesy of the artist.
Ziwei Huang, Prosecco Espresso, 2019.
Photo Courtesy of the artist.
Ziwei Huang, Perfect Match, 2019.
Photo Courtesy of the artist.
Ziwei Huang, Contemptuous, 2019.
Photo Courtesy of the artist.
Ziwei Huang, Curators, 2019.
Photo Courtesy of the artist.
Ziwei Huang, Swiss Couple, 2019.
Photo Courtesy of the artist.
You can see more of Ziwei Huang’s work at https://www.ziweih.com
