Museum as Object: From Postcard to Post

Abstract

Whether it’s through sharing picture postcards or visitor-produced photographs of museums on social media, these processes of image sharing, often dismissed as trivial, are acts which create and sustain relationships between the visitor, museum, and a wider audience. This paper positions picture souvenirs as significant, performative media, and understands postcards and Instagram posts as social, objective and subjective mediums which reflect museum values and visitor decision-making. Using the British Museum as a case study, this paper analyses postcards and Instagram posts within their networks of production, use, and distribution. Visitor messages are analysed alongside imagery, and grounded theory is used to offer an interpretive understanding of decision making and inherent meaning potential. This approach responds to Haldrup and Larsen’s (2010) call for greater emphasis on ‘photographing’ in studies of tourist media and contributes to a deeper understanding of the role of photography in museum visitor experiences. Photography of the museum transforms 3D spaces into 2D objects, miniaturising the institution, making it mobile, and readying the museum for ‘new’, social uses and research indicates that whilst the aims of photography differs between museum, commercial publisher, and visitor, the decisions which underpin production are consistent. Through use, a connection is fostered between museum and person, and institutional and personal messages are read congruently. This connection is heightened online with photographs shared in ‘real-time’ alongside narratives which more closely reflect lived experiences. These photo-sharing practices enrich the visitor experience, allow visitors to ‘own’ the museum, and facilitate and support social interaction.