“In principle a work of art has always been reproducible.”

-Walter Benjamin (The Work of Art In the Age of Mechanical Reproducibility, 1936)

Walter Benjamin speaks of the original work of art as holding an indescribable aura that sets itself apart from its representations and reproductions.  As such, I began to view the tourist site (whether the Colosseum, Eiffel Tower, or Acropolis) as a similar physical entity; its many individual elements combining to become reminiscent of an original work of art.  Using this metaphor, the photograph then becomes a reproduction of the original tourist site.  Benjamin continues: “[e]ven the most perfect reproduction of a work of art is lacking in one element: its presence in time and space, its unique existence at the place where it happens to be.” While the photograph is certainly a representation within time and space, it is far removed from the unique existence of the space itself.  How could a single photograph ever represent the extreme complexity of the history and culture of the Colosseum?  This idea resonated with me as I witnessed the re-recording en masse at the tourist site. Each image taken carrying the possibility of remaining unchanged, capturing a single moment in time, from a single perspective.

 
While already endlessly represented through photography, film and literature, it is obviously clear that there still remains a similar and endless desire to witness these sites and record them for oneself.  One could only describe this motivation through considering the tourist place as exuding a particular and undeniable aura, one that places the original far above hundreds of thousands of fragmented reproductions.  

So why the need to create yet another?