on the road: the photo album

It's that time of the week again for a bit of fantasy travelling. I love travel-themed editorials and I post many of the ones I like here. Rare are the times when I actually see one that evokes the actual quality of travel snaps. Most travel editorials are glossy ideas of what it means to be on the road and there's always something cinematic about it, and that's fine with me since we're talking about fashion photography. It's how we sometimes see ourselves when we travel. In my mind, I look exactly like this when I walk through Morocco.

But this one from Marie Claire Italia is exceptional. Despite the fancy clothes (Louboutin heels, Gucci tote), the pictures (by Wendy Bevan) have the quality of photos people actually take when they travel, from the model's poses and expressions, to the hair and make-up, to the things captured. You feel like you are actually looking through the lenses of someone who was actually there and discovering things and not to just take a pretty picture.

I think the beef about travel editorials is that they often seem to treat a new landscape as merely a backdrop for the clothes, to mixed results. This one really works for me because I feel like I am looking through a friend's photo album and he or she has a story to share about every shot and the people and things encountered.

Magazine: Marie Claire Italia January 2009
Photographer: Wendy Bevan

Images from here and here in tfs