Did You Know?

Art and Travel

As artists, we are constantly looking for inspiration and our surrounding environments so often influence our work. Travel is an eye-opening experience that allows us to gain a fresh outlook and draw on new cultures and surroundings to push ourselves and our art to a new level.

Travel to countless destinations gives us the opportunity to witness and learn from masterpieces; there is no real way to describe the feeling of seeing a work of art in person that you have studied so meticulously in books, writings, and discussions. Or to walk in and around historic and magnificent architecture that you’ve read such detailed descriptions of but now have the ability to give an elaborate depiction from your own perspective.

No matter your choice of medium, travel provides a means to expose yourself to new subject matter, new methods and techniques, and potentially a new focus to your work. It is also a way to challenge yourself as an artist. We are each responsible for learning to edit and critique our own work and to drive ourselves forward to continuously develop.

As a photographer, I tend to focus on a specific area to photograph and find myself returning to that same area again and again photographing details I may have missed the last time or capturing something I’ve photographed many times before but am seeing in a new way. For me, traveling challenges me to photograph in a different way because I know I may never return to that place at least not for many years. It also reminds me how amazing this world is and how critical the artistic community and its’ history is no matter the culture.