There has always been a certain market for dark tourism. Some people will always be drawn to the more macabre and gruesome side of our world. This was compounded when Netflix released a documentary on the subject last year (called, unsurprisingly; ‘Dark Tourist’). This obviously also creates an opportunity for photographers and marketers alike. If there is demand for dark tourism images, photographers will always meet that demand.
But what is dark tourism? Well, www.dark-tourism.com defines it as ‘In general: dark tourism is considered to be travel to sites that are in some way connected to death or disaster (or at least something in one way or another “macabre”)’. So all of us, at least to a degree, are dark tourists. If you don’t agree, think about this: have you ever been to the catacombs in Paris? The 9/11 memorial in New York? Well these would be some of the examples of how you could potentially (unwittingly) engage in dark tourism.
However, the opportunity for high quality stock images comes from the higher risk, exotic locations where the average traveller may prefer to avoid. This does not mean that all dark tourism locations must be high-risk parts of the world, but it often lends itself to this thinking. With that in mind, it’s time to see some of the Ingimage Dark Tourism collection:
5. Nagasaki, Japan
What we see here is an image of the Fountain of Peace at Nagasaki Peace park, built to commemorate those who lost their lives as a result of the atomic bomb.
4. Lenin Mausoleum, Moscow, Russia
The entrance to Lenin’s mausoleum in Moscow. Lenin was the first of the ‘Big 4’ leaders to have their body put on public display after their death. As a result, the main attraction for dark tourists here is Lenin himself.
3. Normandy, France
Given the magnitude of the events that occurred on 6th June 1944, and the loss of life that was experienced by the allies, it is no surprise that any one of the D-Day landing beaches (Omaha, Juno, Sword, Gold and Utah) features on our dark tourism list.
2. The Colosseum, Rome, Italy
This one may come as a bit more of a surprise, considering how many people go to see it each year. But this is actually one of the earliest forms of dark tourism available to see in the world. It is estimated that during the 390 years that the Colosseum was in active use, 400,000 people lost their lives fighting in the arena. On average, that’s over 1000 per year, 83 per month, 21 per week, 3 per day. It doesn’t get much darker than that.
1. Medellin, Columbia
Medellin is the home of the infamous drug kingpin, Pablo Escobar. Under his reign, the city became the murder capital of the world, but today is one of the safest cities in the country to visit. Unsurprisingly, most of the dark tourism appeal here is Pablo Escobar related.
See the Ingimage ‘Dark Tourism’ lightbox here.
No Comments