In this essay, it is my intention to capture the essence of international travel. To be brutally honest, a few of these photos make me very uncomfortable. As viewer, I see myself as a complete outcast- a total nerd! I just previewed this post and I nearly took some of these photos down. Yet, I can't recall feeling awkward at the time these pictures were taken.
Traveling is odd to me. The desire to leave all things known and venture into a land that is physically and culturally different than mine can be terrifying. Still, I remember feeling fulfilled and peaceful when they were taken. For instance, the shot of my boyfriend, Mike, in the shower wasn't taken in despair (though it may appear so). Rather, both of us were admiring the Nicaraguan spirit in spite of the lack of natural resources. This essay was an attempt to juxtapose real happiness with the moments of humiliation and reflection associated with travel.
In her article, Selfe writes, "one goal is to help students and ourselves better understand the communicative power and complexity of visual texts...by reflecting on the compositions we create and exchange with others as complex symbolic instantiations of the human need to communicate" (74). Personally, I enjoyed this assignment because it encourage me to reflect on my own experiences in a new way. I was reminded that you can't judge a person or experience by the way it looks. If I did that, I would probably have a vastly smaller supply of excitement and new ideas in my life. In many of the photos, images of myself or my boyfriend provided coherence for the series. The pictures are taken in many different countries, but the subjects remain the same (Or do they??!). In terms of salience, some objects stand out to me: the little girl's red shoe, the backpack, the bare white walls, the man's green and purple shirt. I like that sometimes these objects are brighter than me or my boyfriend. The viewer's eye is drawn to the exotic, not the familiar.
