On the aesthetics of journey

Clarissa is a solo traveler who has been to 71 international locations on the backpacker’s finances, or $30 per day.

Snap!

I decrease my telephone from the scene earlier than me — a two-lane road cluttered with 4 vehicles facet by facet, motorbikes weaving out and in, trash, cows and dirt curling within the warmth. To many, this metropolis may look “underdeveloped,” chaotic. And but, I discover it oddly fairly. With only a few faucets of my Clarissa Lightroom presets circa 2018 — up the heat, enhance the pinks, saturate the teal — I’ve a picture-perfect Insta-worthy photograph.

We like to romanticize the overseas. Things which are mundane — and even irritating — for locals immediately turns into “aesthetic” when filtered by the eyes and lenses of vacationers. A broken-down bus turns into “authentic,” road litter turns into “local flavor” and chaotic markets are reimagined as vibrant cultural experiences. Magazines and guidebooks like Condé Nast Traveler or Lonely Planet thrive on cinematic snapshots curated for wanderlust — saturated sunsets, cobblestone streets and spice-laden markets — glossing over the extra difficult, much less picturesque realities of on a regular basis life.

Is this pretend promoting? Maybe not. Anyone can snap a photograph and edit it to look artsy. I do it on a regular basis. I take footage of something and every little thing, then run them by my signature Clarissa Lightroom filter till they’re vivid, alluring and undeniably overseas. Yet, once I go comparable scenes again house, I would label them as run-down or unremarkable. Why does every little thing overseas really feel extra poetic?

It’s not even that I’m tired of my house life. Despite what the variety of stamps on my passport may counsel, I’m fairly joyful within the United States. I’ve had the identical visible aesthetic for years now, even again house. My mates wish to joke that I see the world by my “Clarissa filter,” with a mushy wash of pink, teal skies, golden grass and heat saturated tones that glow till it virtually hurts. I do know the world doesn’t really appear to be that. But is it improper to edit a photograph into one thing extra dreamlike? Isn’t that form of the purpose of modifying — to make actuality really feel a bit extra inventive, a bit extra yours? Maybe. Or if we affiliate magnificence with what’s unfamiliar, possibly modifying is simply one other strategy to fortify the overseas in our every day lives. 

An image is price a thousand phrases, however there are most likely a thousand extra phrases to explain what the image conveniently edits away. 

Take Yanar Dagh in Azerbaijan. It’s referred to as the “pit of hell,” a dramatic, awesome-looking fireplace cave burning perpetually. Google it; it’s cool. But in individual, it’s only a tiny flame in a crack within the rock in the midst of nowhere. A basic case of expectation versus actuality — very underwhelming. 

When I flew to Iceland, I used to be excited to see the Northern Lights from the airplane. But the Northern Lights are gray wisps of clouds. You have to actually squint your eyes to see them. That purple and inexperienced you see on-line is generally edited — an impact I used to be additionally capable of obtain by in depth Lightroom exercise. Who cares? No, I didn’t precisely see it like that with my eyes, however at the least I’ve a wonderful photograph of dancing purple and inexperienced Northern Lights in Iceland. That photograph exists on my telephone — and not directly, it feels simply as actual. I can virtually gaslight myself into believing that’s what I noticed. And clearly I don’t need my pictures to look worse than everybody else’s, particularly if I’m gonna publish this journey. Isn’t that fascinating? The tradition of sustaining a highly-curated journey profile is one which self-perpetuates. 

I suppose you possibly can name me superficial for my fixed want to devour magnificence. My excuse is that I’m an artwork main, however that’s not likely an excuse. 

But extra just lately, I’ve wished to know my travels of their context. I accumulate tales and histories in my journal. I spend time with a spot earlier than pulling out my telephone. In that spirit, I’ve even begun leaving pictures unedited, even when the urge to color-correct is powerful.

I’ll by no means cease romanticizing. But typically, it’s worthwhile to let foreignness stay overseas. To admire locations not only for how they give the impression of being on my feed, however for his or her liveliness. Those kinds of tales in regards to the world are way more fascinating.