the tourist gaze

In writing a caption for the photo I plan to submit for the Post's travel photo contest, I mentioned in one of my drafts the concept of "the tourist gaze." I wanted to find a source that would help me write a succinct definition. So I remembered Lucy R. Lippard discussing it in On the Beaten Track: Tourism, Art, and Place. I looked it up in the index and found the page, where she attributed the term to John Urry. No wonder his name came up when I wikied "tourist gaze." John Urry also featured on my Spanish cultural studies exam.

I know what you're thinking: OK. Who cares? Well, at the time of that exam, I wasn't that surprised my professor asked us to respond to one of his ideas. He's a sociology professor at Lancaster. He might be the head of the department. And he's definitely interested in "mobilities." I've walked past his office dozens of times, too.

What a small world.