Mass-produced Images of Archaeological Sites: The Case Study of Knossos on Postcards

Images and Spaces of Port Cities in Transition

“…Studies on tourist photography and postcards explore various topics, such as the creation of the identity of a place and community (Kurti, 2004; Milman, 2011), the history of tourist places (Evans & Richards, 1980; Markwick, 2001; Papadaki, 2004), (post-)colonialism (Prochaska, 2011; Spennemann, 2006), ethnicity (Whittaker, 2009), gender (Sigel, 2000), and tourist experience (Hillman, 2007). The social studies perspective on postcards goes even beyond—including postcards as a source of historical data issue (Lynn, 1988), studies on social communication mediated by a postcard (Andriotis & Mavrič, 2013; Jaworski, 2010), and, finally, urban studies of the postcards that refer to the structure and functions of a city’s imagery (Crang, 1996; DeBres & Sowers, 2009; Dotterrer & Cranz, 1982).…”

“…If people appear in a port city postcard, they are mostly locals; it appears, then, that tourists shown on a postcard could be associated with inauthenticity (i.e., an uncommon situation), whereas a picture postcard pretends to represent ordinary life. Contemporary postcards do not usually present human figures in the foreground, or they are presented only in a long shot (Papadaki, 2004; Thurlow, Jaworski, Ylanne-McEwen, 2005). Sailing ships and yachts have replaced human crowds in picture postcards, which are very rarely depicted in open public spaces on a waterfront.…”

Mediating mediations of the past: Monuments on photographs, postcards and social media

“…To enter into one of those monuments is thought of as to enter into a historical or aesthetic sacred. This idea gives travelers the sensation of a power of intellection, as in front of the monument they try to remember and combine all the things they have heard and seen about the particular monument and then decode and understand it, solve its "puzzle" (Papadaki 2004). As Barthes explained (1979: 14) 'to enter a monument is to solve, to possess it'.…”

“…Monuments, both classical and more contemporary, are one among the favourite themes depicted on postcards. The highly localized quality of monuments, their character as public objects, being works commissioned for a site of open public access, make them classic postcard images addressed to tourist gazes (Papadaki 2004). The postcard of a monument in a central square, for example, characteristically proves the function of a postcard as a souvenir.…”

“…Tourist photography can be seen as a way for a gazer to autonomously find the sites that he/she considers valuable of the photographic shot and the simultaneous entrenchment to acquisition, recollection and memory. Unquestionably, the tourist's familiarity with the mediated images of monuments or tourist sites, coded as identifying or topos-authentical mechanisms, forms predetermined guided gazes that work as a "treasure hunt" for every destination newcomer: every tourist holding a camera try to find the must-see sites of the visited land, photograph them and post the results on his/her social media profile -as acquired "trophies" from the invaded, exotic other (Papadaki 2004). As the Grand Tourist before him, the modern tourist follows a specific ritual: been there, done that, got the certificate (be it the souvenir, the postcard and more recently the snapshot or the selfie) and then put it on display (in one's living-room, on notice-boards, or more recently on social media posts).…”