The invention of photography in Europe happened hand in hand with the development of tourism. The act of picture taking has become embedded in the process of travel but do these images reflect the reality of the sites we visit or perpetuate an ideology of place? Does it matter?

This research question introduces a discussion on the ethics of pictorial imagined geographies as a means of tourism development. It takes both historical and contemporary case studies of projects that used photography intentionally for the purpose of economic regeneration and critically questions the notion of acceptable deceit.

While giving a feel of serenity many travel images play key roles in our understanding of place. This image of the North West China was shot while experimenting with the notion of imaginative geography.
Photograph: Cheng Yangyang, China (the student was given just one day to take the image)