| “In some ways, I think travel is about learning how to see.” –Pico Iyer Travel and photography go hand in hand, and both exist along a spectrum. On one end exists the culturally sophisticated ideal of seeing in a new way. We might say that experiencing art is, as Iyer says about travel, about learning to see. True art is that which avoids cliché, and in order to truly open the viewer’s eyes, a photograph must avoid the pitfalls of convention. On the other end of the spectrum exists the vast expanse of the conventional. The conformist traveller is obliged to visit the known tourist attractions, and is likewise obliged to either photograph them, or to buy postcards or other souvenirs as proof of the visit. And while the cultural sophisticate might look superciliously upon such behavior, no-one can visit Paris without paying at least some attention to the Eiffel Tower. In the same way, the photographer must at some point confront the inevitability of photographic convention. The Postcard Project will be an inquiry into this problem. With the help of local historians and guidebooks I will identify and photograph sites both well-known and obscure. From these photographs I will create postcards and posters, which I will then attempt to sell, either by placing them in tourist shops and museums, or by selling them myself on the street. |