Proof Copy 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 Chapter 10 Entwined Histories: Photography and Tourism at the Great Barrier Reef Celmara Pocock Introduction 1 From the air a scattering of brilliant white sandy cays and sand fringed islands dotted in an array of navyblack, brilliant aqua and turquoise waters stretches for more than 2,000 kilometres along the northeast coast of Australia. Up close the waters are crystal clear, the islands are green, and underwater life displays colours and forms unimaginable to those who have never seen it. This is the Great Barrier Reef – simultaneously of enormous scale and comprised of myriads of minute life forms. It defies the human imagination, but satellite and aerial imagery, underwater cameras, colour emulsion, digital technology and motion film make it possible to capture and communicate many of these visual qualities. Images of the Reef are reproduced in their thousands each year; in popular science magazines, documentary films, coffee table books, internet sites, tourist brochures, advertisements and postcards. The visual qualities transmitted through these media are an integral part of the region’s standing as a World Heritage site and as Australia’s premier tourist destination. While the tourism industry is often attributed with creating and promulgating particular images of tourist destinations, analysis of historic images of the Reef suggests that this relationship is a much more complex one. Reef images have developed through a number of technological advances, and Reef and photographic histories are intertwined. The history of tourism on the Great Barrier Reef is documented in a vast array of images including many photographs. A content and semiotic analysis of these images, together with other archival sources has been used to identify change in visitor experiences of the Reef over time (Pocock 2002a). This analysis suggests that the physical environments that surround tourist facilities of Reef islands have been transformed to meet the imaginary Pacific ideal realised in many resorts today. This transformation is fuelled not only by the tourism industry, but through the collective historical imagination of colonial Australians. Beyond the islands, visitor experiences of the Reef are strongly influenced by the visual imagery of aerial photography and underwater cameras. This chapter explores a history of these photographic images 1 The research for this chapter was supported and assisted by the CRC Reef, James Cook University, Marion Stell, David Collett, Shelley Greer and David Roe. Robinson.indb 185 08/04/2009 16:21:52