The Travel Photo Essay

CHAPTER 1 The Concept

 

 

 

WHAT IS A TRAVEL PHOTO ESSAY?

Creating a series of pictures that tell a story has been the mainstay of travel magazines since their inception. Travel editors have a mantra that must be taken to heart before approaching a publication with an idea: “A location is not a story.” For the most part this is true except when locations are so off the beaten path that they warrant a wider focus. For example, Eve Arnold’s monumental book In China, published in 1980, came at a time when few Western photographers were allowed into the Middle Kingdom. She told me in an interview that the success of that book compelled her to take on the United States with her camera. The result was In America, an interesting photo book but ...