Travel

This is a funny little picture that I like a lot. The colour is good and the composition is simple but effective. It's difficult to comment too much as I wasn't at the scene, but I wonder if there might have been more space around the hut - the same photograph with the hut smaller in the image and even more empty space I think would add to the humour of it. If not then perhaps the attendant may have been persuaded to appear in the picture - if I was shooting this for a client, I might have been inclined to ask her or him to sit in one of the chairs just to animate it a bit.

A very simple and very effective image neatly balancing the blue of the car with the richness of the blue in the sky. It's nicely exposed and works well. I guess if I could be greedy, I might want something else going on in the picture or a little bit of motion from the car to animate it a bit more - it is maybe a bit too static as it is shown here. Two simple things that might be worth trying would be to a) track the car so that the background blurs slightly or, b) hold the camera still on a longer exposure and let the car blur through the scene. Just a thought that might add something different, but otherwise the picture works well.

This picture is nicely conceived and should by rights attract my interest with all the little cameos and stories as my eye wanders through the crowd. The use of the puddle as a mirror to draw the viewers attention works well. Unfortunately though I am instantly led to question the authenticity of the image by the level of post production work. I still feel that one advantage that photography has over other art forms is its ability to record instantly a slice of life that can hold some truth. For me it is important if we are showing scenes that purport to be real that we don't call that authenticity into question more than it needs to be. In this image, the level of post-production work leads me to wonder how much of it is real: were all the people there in those positions with those expressions? Is the reflection real? An so on. The scene itself is wonderful and the choreography of life in the street is well balanced and full of intrigue - I would just rather have seen it with a more genuine colouring etc to make me trust it more. Having said that, it works well as an illustration or a commercial image that might not pretend to be real.

I like this abstract image of the well known Scottish Forth road bridge. It turns an everyday, familiar structure into something more ethereal focusing on its essential shape and form. I guess there has been some post-production and colour work done on the image, and in this case I think it adds to the overall effect, isolating the bridge even more against an almost white sky. Not a traditional travel image, but photographed by someone with a clear eye for composition and line.

This is lovely moment, nicely seen and caught on camera. As with a lot of 'observed' images there is usually an element of chance but the photographer has to be ready for the unexpected. Often it is a question of selecting the scene and composition then waiting for something to unfold to give life to the photograph. Sometimes it's just luck, but in this type of work you really do make your own luck. Only afterwards can we look again at this slice of life and read more into the story: the man carrying two others on his bike; the effort involved in maintaining balance and support, and the caring relationships within a family, let alone the socio-economic overtones of the whole scene.

Another 'classic' travel image full of wonder. Technically difficult to shoot I'm sure in the low light, but the splash of orange works perfectly with the rich indigo blue. There is something wonderful too about the pink makeup mirror being used to apply the colour to the face. One small point here, is that whilst the photographer was clearing working at the margins of what was possible with the camera and the light, this is perhaps an instance where a little bit of post-production would add to the image. I'm not advocating extensive retouching, or colouring, just something to lift the exposure slightly and throw a little more light onto the face to reveal the eyes. This is something that would have been easily achieved in a traditional darkroom and I see no problem with achieving the same thing digitally. Additional exposure in camera may not have been possible with the low light and/or would have meant that the hair became overexposed.

This a classic 'travel' image, beautiful colours, lovely light and a sense of the exotic. In this case the wide angle is again used to accentuate the drama of the scene (rather than simply to create the drama) elongating and emphasising the shadows from the setting sun and drawing the eye towards the centre and top of the image where the colour and light is concentrated. Counterbalancing the 'hot spot' of colour and light in the centre/top is the balloon seller towards the front centre left - a little splash of contrasting colour to draw the eye away from the centre and lead you to explore the rest of the image. Once you start to do that, there are no end of little stories to discover.

For me, this is a picture full of intrigue. It is both offering me an insight into the culture and society of the place it was shot and inviting questions about the story behind the image. I like images that make me wonder about the people in them, make me want to know the story. In this case there are two elements of tension in the image: the relationship between the man smoking and the man seated - the slight forward motion of the man on the left and his expression suggest that there is an element of aggression towards to the older seated man who is responding with an unperturbed look of calm. The man behind appears to be trying to stay out of the potential conflict. At the same time the arm on the right appears to be inviting passersby in for a trim which seems to diffuse the sense of aggression in the room - the two elements seem contradictory. Without the arm on the right, I would be tempted to think that a fight was about to break out, but now I'm not sure. This image is full of stories.

For me this picture is a great example of 'travel portraiture'. Too often it seems that photographers rely on post-production skills or extreme lenses to bring drama to their images. On this occasion, however, the wide angle capabilities of the lens are put to great effect to add immediacy and connection with the viewer. Again there is a story and some intrigue in the image that makes me want to know more: who are these guys? Why are they covered in dust and sweat? What is their life like? Why are they not wearing masks etc etc. Clues to some of the answers may be in the picture - I'm guessing from the bricks in the background that they are workers at a brick kiln, but I still want to know more. The composition is bold and simple, there is a pride and self assuredness in the faces of each of the three men and the colours appear natural, complimenting the subject rather than distracting from it.

Now, my choice of this image may surprise a lot of people but for me it is an example of the most important part of photography - the eye. Photography is not about fancy cameras, clever techniques or post-production skills, it is about seeing. This image is beautifully seen and composed - reminiscent for me of the great work of Joel Sternfeld. I could talk about the classically simple composition, the old fashioned bus in complimentary green, the groups of tourists who haven't ventured far from the vehicle, the one who has moved away from the crowd helping to balance the picture in the bottom right (not to mention the photographer himself/herself who has ventured further afield to capture the whole scene) and the position of the road leading the eye further into the picture. The muted colour lend a timeless quality to the image and whilst the technicalities of the image are limited by the fact that it was shot on an iPhone 3 - it still fills me with wonder and delight. Someone give this photographer a 10/8 view camera!

This is an ubiquitous travel motif, the long jetty or pontoon heading off into the lake or sea shot on a long exposure. It is almost a cliche, but that doesn't mean that it doesn't work when done well. The use of the panoramic format adds to the sense of space and the colours are strong and beautifully reflected in the still waters created by the long exposure. I do wonder whether the photographer could have afforded to expose for a little longer to bring in some detail on the wooden jetty. It may be that the brightness of the sunset made this difficult, but I do think the image would benefit from a bit more detail in the dark areas and I think it could even afford to go a little brighter in the highlights. Of course, another option would have been to wait for the light to fall a little more so that the sky was not so bright and then it would be simpler to balance the light on the jetty with the light in the sky. I understand though, that the light would have been changing all the time and so another few minutes may have resulted in a dramatic loss of colour. A little bit of experimentation with exposure on these shots can reveal a range of different moods and colourings, sometimes 'over-exposing' at night is magical.

Having mentioned in many reviews that the overuse of post-prodcution techniques or trickery doesn't do it for me, it may be a surprise to see me include a clearly 'photoshopped' image here. I am, of course, conscious that this image doesn't pretend to be a real 'documentary' image, but instead is an image evocative of a romantic notion of times gone by. It is very reminiscent of the work of Edward S. Curtis in his monumental work on indigenous North American Indians and I imagine the photographer is using those images either consciously or otherwise as a reference. Like Curtis' images it is almost too perfect a composition to be real and like many of the formers work it isn't real, it is a controlled reality. It's still a fine picture in it's own right though even if it doesn't conform to many people's notions of traditional travel photography.

Travel photography encompasses all genres and of course landscape is a key part of it. For me though, most landscape/travel images fall way short by focussing solely on picturesque scenes or beautiful light - we are now so familiar with the world and all its wonders that a beautiful dawn over the Sydney Opera House rarely offers anything new beyond a response of 'oh that's pretty'. I want the landscape and travel images to challenge and intrigue me rather than just be eye-candy. Having said that there is a real sense in which the aesthetic or beautiful can still draw people into a picture and reveal or stimulate wider interest in the scene. Edward Burtynsky is a master of this. So whilst this image of Iceland is clearly a beautiful scene, I think it works beyond that speaking to me of real global issues concerning climate change and the rapid melting of ice in the far north. It works on many levels and the photographer has used the skills at her/his disposal to draw the viewer into the picture and to think about it beyond its obvious beauty.

I like this because it goes beyond the traditional notion of travel photography whilst still telling us where it was shot and a little about the place. Clearly shot in London and referencing the widely held view of terrible British weather, the photographer has focused on the window and raindrops rather than the scene behind. Whilst the buses and taxi however are out of focus they are still bold and recognisable enough to quickly identify the location. It is an image that shows that the photographer is thinking about how to represent her or his subject and using the inherent characteristics of photography to tell the story.

This simple image is perhaps the picture in the top ten that most clearly sits in the traditional genre of travel photography. I include it here, because it is a nicely observed and composed photograph cutting out any extraneous or distracting detail. The close crop and the limited colour palette attract the eye to the image and then the distant look in the man's eyes intrigues us into imagining his story: is that sadness in his eyes? Is he watching something or is he simply deep in thought? Simple, bold and effective.