Travel

Each place we visit has its own customs, ambience, character and challenges, each place is special and unique because of its history, politics, people and geography. A single approach that fits all, limits our understanding, vision and ability to see beyond the obvious and the result is a monoculture of travel photo’s that often reflect the current established style. As sumptuous and as well photographed as these images may be, if they have been seen a thousand times they lose meaning and relevance, objects of beauty without a soul.

I don’t have an answer to this but I’m reminded of Jane Bown who told Luke Dodd that “she thought it was impossible to take a bad picture abroad”, acknowledging the easy exoticism of images from other cultures. Whilst this may be an overstatement now,  there is a caution here and that in this age of spectacle and a multitude of instantly accessible imagery we need to treat travel photography with the utmost respect and look beyond the “exotic” and the “hackneyed”.

All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveller is unaware. (Martin Buber).

One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things. (Henry Miller)