I had my subject, UK model Kyle James, pose fully painted in front of Modern Wonders of the World. This “guerrilla-style” approach is common to many of my works. We travelled to the Modern Wonders of the World. Surrounded by the elders at the end of their lives climbing stairs with modified ski poles, and honeymooners breezing past sites holding selfie sticks, I examined Western tourism’s impact on memory making, bucket list dreams, and decaying architecture. I really wanted to understand what makes a place ‘great’. Why do these physical structures go down in history? I was amazed that, due to the nature of contemporary tourism, so many people idealize these places but they leave with some selfies, a branded trinket and a bit of disappointment. They looked… lost.
I’m profoundly interested in the culture of the selfie. Why are people traveling to these sites for only a brief moment to take a picture and brag to their friends? It completely isolates the architectural structure from its original meaning, intent and use. I am highly interested in our methods of memory – making and the ways these are digitalized globally.
I included “wonder” as a part of my process to create these works. My model and I traveled to each site and took a historical tour of the site, often with a private guide. I then returned to the site to sit and observe the architecture, decay, energy of the people and effects of tourism on the sites. Finally, we returned to create the work over a period of 1-3 hours onsite, creating and giving energy to the site.
Many photographers say they ‘take’ a picture. At major tourist sites like these, there are masses of visual consumers ‘taking’ from this environment without really appreciating the space or the history and culture of the people who made these structures. Artists are culture makers so I couldn’t approach this trip the same way – we “made” a picture and gave energy back to these places. I wanted to examine, what does it look like when we strip down our dreams and confront ourselves with the reality of these ‘wonders’ of the world. I didn’t find the fantasy the tourism industry had sold me. But what I did discover is so much richer and will shape the way I live and travel in the future.