Photo elicitation: Exploring tourist experiences with researcher-found images

This article provides an example of how researcher found-images have been used in a study where the tourist experience of intangible heritage is at the center. In this research, images were triangulated with in-depth interviews and participant observation in an attempt to flesh out the more intimate aspects of tourism experiences. It is suggested that photo elicitation, in its various forms, presents a fun, creative and multi-sensory alternative to conventional techniques. In this study, the use of researcher-found images in interviews proved to be a valuable tool to research tourist embodied experiences. While images offer many weighty advantages, some limitations do exist. Not only researcher-found images may introduce some positive bias into how informants recollect and present their experiences, but they may also lack the narrative power that visual materials assembled by research participants may have.

► Photo elicitation, in its various forms, presents a fun, creative, multi-sensory alternative to conventional research techniques.
► Researcher-found images in interviews proved to be a valuable tool to research tourist embodied experiences.
► Researcher found-images lack the narrative power that visual materials assembled by research participants may have.