Picture Imperfect - Florence Smith Nicholls
Virtual photography and the collapse of photography back into a broader context of imaging technologies is a major focus of my (Eron’s) personal research and art practice, so it’s always delightful to find articles that engage with the myriad of philosophical and cultural concerns in the field. Picture Imperfect: Photography, Dark Tourism and Video Games by archeologist Florence Smith Nichollsis an essay that brilliantly explores the ethical considerations of the “tourist gaze” in video games. It deals directly with “dark tourism”—tourism that exploits sites of death and destruction—as a particular trope in games. The essay is oriented to reflect on the desires of academics and researchers dealing with video games, but artists and curators will likely find much use in its sharp observations about the tactics some games subvert the colonial structure of dark tourism, with Umurangi Generation (a game we’re going to feature shortly) as an exemplar for reworking historical narratives with its engagement with Maori culture. Seriously, why haven’t we featured Umurangi Generation already? [Jots a note for next week.]
Writer: Florence Smith Nicholls
Link: https://www.historicalgames.net/picture-imperfect-photography-dark-tourism-and-video-games/
Publication: Historical Games Network
Connections:
Julia Watson - Design By Radical Indigenism
Dean MacCannel - The Tourist: A New Theory of the Leisure Class