Travel Themes & Personal Projects

Why a theme

A theme is a visual element you deliberately look for, running through a body of work and linking individual frames into a clearly defined system. "Travel photography" is a broad theme — worthless as a brief. A sub-theme inside it makes the work more interesting and more valuable.

• It helps you find subject matter in non-descript locations.
• It saves time — you're not searching for "anything good".
• It develops a style that becomes your photographic signature.
• It gives the work an audience: a curated set beats a hundred unrelated frames.

How to make a theme

Pick a repetition of something and commit: a number, a colour, a shape, a form of transport, negative space, a pattern, a type of structure, black and white, street portraits, a cultural tradition.

The tighter the scope, the better the work. "Black and white portraits of men working in India" beats "black and white images of India".

The worked example

A trip to northern Africa with the theme camels. You concentrate on camels; you come home with an extensive, coherent portfolio of camel images from northern Africa — the kind of set an editor can actually use, rather than a scattering of unrelated frames.

Running a project

• Ensure a strong narrative throughout — the set should read in an order.
• Consistent shooting style and consistent editing. Nothing breaks a body of work faster than one frame processed differently.
• Versatile lens for fast-changing situations; light planning is critical; use scale.
• Avoid crowds and tourist traps; explore; use multiple vantage points.
• Don't disturb the environment, don't overshoot, tell your own story.

What travel work can do

Tell a story · transport the viewer to a place and time · capture the mood, beauty or essence of an environment · make a social or ethical comment · capture a sense of adventure · tell your own story.

Before you go — set the brief

1. Write the theme in one sentence. If it takes two, it's too broad.
2. List five frames you already know you want.
3. List the times of day each needs.
4. Decide the treatment now — colour or mono, and roughly how it will be processed.
5. Decide how many frames the finished set is. Ten strong images is a body of work; four hundred is an archive.

Consolidated from references: Photzy Travel Snap Cards — Creating a Theme; Meredith Schofield, Authentic Storytelling (travel section).