Bloody tourists! Visiting historic or scenic locations is a joy but all too often it’s a joy shared with a multitude of like-minded people. In this case, I was visiting the Roman baths after which the town of Bath was named. Attracting over one million visitors a year, it’s one of the most popular tourist attractions in England. The challenge, photographically, is how to present the subject when the subject is loved to death by crowds of people.
My objective here was to show the historic elements clearly but treat the people as a fleeting presence within the scene, an idea which appeals to me and which I’ve explored previously. In this environment, using a tripod and very slow shutter speed is out of the question, and waiting for a quiet moment is pointless, one busload of people is soon replaced by another.
Fortunately, digital photography allows us to think differently and plan with our digital image processing options in mind. In this case, a multi-image composite emphasizes those elements I wish to give prominence to, whilst creating a more impressionistic representation of the unavoidable tourist hordes.
History and the milling crowd, Bath, England.
The statue has been there since Roman times, the people are a fleeting presence.
From the Britain image gallery. ~KD.