Paper short abstract:

Can one have safari tourism without photography or autovideography? Israeli safari tourists take far more photographs during a safari journey in East Africa than at any other destiny. This paper will explore the use of visual technology which serves tourists' individual and social needs.

Paper long abstract:

Tourism is visual and nostalgic: Today it is almost impossible to consider tourism without the involvement of photography and video recording for posterity. It is also impossible to study anthropology of tourism without relating to these central practices of tourism. Safari tourism has a unique stance in the practice of photography. Israeli safari tourists, for instance, take far more photographs during a safari journey in East Africa than at any other destination. A common academic view sees "shooting a picture" not only as a documentation and memorialization but as a symbolic restoration of "hunting" as well. What influences the tourists' way of thinking about images? What is the place of "National Geographic films" in the technological 'arms race' among safari tourists? Does the hunt after the "best image" of a wild animal influence the way tourists think about the wild 'other' or about themselves? This paper will explore the use of visual technology which serves tourists as an opportunity for reflexivity, as a possibility to gain of control over uncertainty and as ways to capture an exciting rare moment. Through visual anthropology, I will attempt to present different aspects of the power of new visual practices during safari tourism.