You’ve seen it before, right? An image that’s so unbelievably beautiful, you can barely believe your eyes. Have you ever wondered how such travel photos come into being? How come your mobile phone snapshot looks so flat compared to those glossy Instagram photos?
DON’T WE ALL LIKE gawking at dreamy Instagram photos set in the most beautiful corners of the world? But in light of the fact that I am one of those contributing to the immense pool of “feelgood” Instagram travel photos, it might sound weird from me, how increasingly bored I am getting with the current trend of hyping travel via illusory images.
“Places you must see before you die,” “How I left my 9-5 job and became a full-time traveler,” “30 places you must see before you turn 30.” You know the headlines – these are the types of articles circulating on the internet, making me feel like falling down on my table and crying from the frustration of how wrong I think these messages are.
Since I started my Instagram account I have been engaged in an internal debate with myself about the ethics of the “reality versus illusion” phenomenon. On one hand I use my camera and editing skills to bring out the best of the places I visit. But when I post images like those on Instagram, my question is whether I by publishing such nicely manicured am pushing falsehoods about these places – and even about myself.
