PICTURE IMPERFECT THE DANGERS OF FILTERING TRAVEL EXPERIENCES THROUGH A SMARTPHONE
Old Faithful, the iconic cone geyser that graces nearly every advertisement for Yellowstone National Park, erupts around 17 times a day. In peak summer season, an estimated 2,000 people cram together for each eruption, dutifully snapping photos for their digital albums. When my boyfriend and I visited last August, we joined the throngs to gather photographic evidence for posterity. I shared the best pictures on my Instagram, mixed in with 1.4 million posts from other people labeled “#yellowstone.”
Photography is nothing new to this park. In 1870, photographer William Henry Jackson accompanied Ferdinand Hayden, who was in charge of the United States Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories, on an expedition through the wilderness of northwestern Wyoming. During their journey, Jackson took photos of steaming geysers, deep-cut canyons, and mammoth beasts roaming the land like royalty. In one, a
