TO START THE BLOG, SOME THOUGHTS ON BEING A TRAVELING PHOTOGRAPHER AND ON THE IMPORTANCE OF SEEING THE WORLD
During these last two weeks since I came home, after spending over a month on the road, I reflected on what being a traveling photographer means. I found it fitting that this would be the first post on my blog, a place where I’ll be sharing my thoughts about photography in general, and on being a Fine Art landscape photographer in particular.
Besides taking care of a couple of assignments, during this last month I organised my travels to be able to fit in some serious personal shooting time as well (three weeks in Ireland, one week around Italy). I came home tremendously enriched by the whole experience, both as a traveling photographer and as a person. As well, I brought back with me about a thousand photos to browse, select and process.
Traveling is one of the most enriching experiences we can make, both as human beings in general and as artists in particular. Seeing the world is an endless source of ideas and inspiration, and it can teach us to relativize the importance of things like nation, race, fear of the other, reinforcing at the same time the concepts of respect, tolerance, acceptance and humanity.
Just to name a few, traveling help us open our minds, putting us in touch with different cultures, histories, climates and food. When we are on the road, we are able to look at different ways of thinking, living life, dressing, having fun, being happy and being sad, all from up close.
We have a unique opportunity to look at how other people build their buildings, how they preserve their heritage and their nature, and so on. As a photographer, in particular, every time I go on the road I come back with new ideas about my art and craft, about how to improve my work, and about how to refine my kit and better shape it to fulfil my requirements.
In short, for me traveling is an all-round experience that opens my eyes and my mind, and I never have enough of it.
To end these quick thoughts about being a traveling photographer, let me leave you with a recommendation: travel as much as you can, but try and do so with open eyes and open mind. How you live through the journey is what is important, more than the journey itself and its destination.
Thank you for reading this post, I hope you enjoyed it! Why don’t you share it with your friends, or drop me a comment to let me know your thoughts about this?