cruise-ship photography

Modern cruise-ship passengers, especially males, sport a formidable array of imaging devices, and photography is as crucial to the cruise experience as eating and sightseeing (which it often records); a ten-day trip aboard a large liner will generate thousands of pictures. The professional's function is partly to supply batteries, memory cards, minilab facilities, and so on; but partly to exploit the opportunities for ‘special occasion’ photography that arise (e.g. birthdays and anniversaries) or are built into the schedule (embarcation, the captain's cocktail party, ‘crossing the Line’, arrival at exotic locations, stipulated formal meals). As, for example, with wedding and makeover photography, the professional thrives on the gulf between amateur equipment and amateur skills. Large vessels may offer a purpose-built studio; otherwise, lights and a range of fantasy backdrops can be temporarily rigged in a bar or saloon. A proportion of the pictures may be recycled as publicity material.

— Robin Lenman

Bibliography

• Graves, J., Waterline: Images from the Golden Age of Cruising (2004)