There’s a certain eventfulness in sending a greeting as a photograph that depicts a play of scale, where a tourist appears commensurate with a radio tower or a pyramid.
A tourist runs from reality in search of the perfect shot. A creator makes reality right here, right now.
But I am not a tourist; tourists leave far away to find a world better than their own, they abandon their hometowns, and they criticize them remotely for their flaws. I want to find joy and create a sense of eventfulness in the present—in the way things currently are.
I am a traveler-wonder-maker—my mission is to transform every environment into meaning. A wonder-maker is not just someone who prefers to lounge in a hotel room or walk around the hotel pool—it is an adventurer in the most romantic sense. A traveler-wonder-maker clings to every fragment of reality and turns it into a marvel, when the active individual spends all their savings, runs away, and ultimately transforms it all into a sort of unrealized potential. Arriving near the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the active traveler will be beset by hunger, the eternally burning and exhausting sun, throngs of tourists, groups aimlessly milling around the same locations, and finally, a longing for home—which will turn into a desire to take another tourist photoshoot and send messages on WhatsApp to all friends and relatives.
- Stand next to the fallen sign; - Hold the barrier gate; - Hop across the crosswalk (since there’s a drop-off below); - Replicate the shape of construction pipes; - Fly on the sign; - Hold a basketball hoop in your palm; - Threaten friends with a bottle; - Pretend a staircase is at home; - Stage a photoshoot with a tantamarezka; - Hold up cars; - Imagine yourself as a ventilation system; - Hold all the streetlights; - Fake a facade / hide behind a fake facade; - Measure the cargo claw; - Hold the moon; - Ride in a crane.
It’s no coincidence that near every popular tourist spot live people who understand and value their home—but what if you could become a resident who doesn’t just live in that place, but actively creates it? By simply connecting with the nearest community, you can gain a piece of meaning, add value to a place, and ultimately gather a mountain of non-touristy postcards.
