What is a travel journal? (page 4 of 4)

Hello,

What do 3 pretty, successful, flattering photos take away from the strength and interest of a text? Smile

Yes. Some texts stand on their own. Images, no matter how good they are, distort them. Because they inevitably turn them into something else—a clumsy, unnatural hybrid.

I know I don’t write the same way at all when I’m crafting a pure text versus a text-and-image dialogue.

Catherine

One of the most-read journals on VF—if not *the* most read—has only 3 photos, and even those are just incidental. A journal focused on a very specific theme, almost off-topic, that became wildly successful with over 90,000 views. Can anyone top that?

A winning formula! At the opposite end of the spectrum: barely any text, just photos (and not even in color!), the journal of a guy who travels with his culture as much as with his eyes, capturing the spirit of places like few others. But only 5,000 views. Go figure.

Shows how this forum was big enough to welcome different styles without it hurting the whole.

Hi there

I literally jumped when I read your message! To the point where I wondered if you might have mixed up your words. But no, UM knows exactly what she’s writing 😉

Some texts are self-sufficient

That’s absolutely right.

Images, no matter their quality, distort them.

Now, that’s where I completely disagree

Because they inevitably turn them into something else—clunky, unnatural.

If the text is pleasant to read, clear, and fluid, and the photo that goes with it has the same qualities, why would one distort the other?

I’m thinking of Sylvain Tesson and his friend Vincent Munier, whose close collaboration gave birth to a book, a film, and a photo album. Did Vincent Munier’s photos distort Sylvain Tesson’s writing? Couldn’t we say that the two complement or even elevate each other?

I know I don’t write the same way at all if I’m crafting pure text or a dialogue between text and image(s).

If you think you have that kind of talent, hats off to you!

Hi Kate,

I’m thinking of Sylvain Tesson and his friend Vincent Munier, whose close collaboration gave birth to a book, a film, and a photo album. Did Vincent Munier’s photos corrupt Sylvain Tesson’s writing? Couldn’t we say that the two complement or even enhance each other?

I don’t know which book you’re talking about—I’ve never read Tesson. But you write “collaboration,” so I imagine it’s a joint creation. What I call a text/photo dialogue. Not a text written as an end in itself where photos are just thrown in afterward. That can make for beautiful works (I’m thinking of the book by Enard and Marques), but it’s not crafted as a text that *then* has to be illustrated because poor *Homo Ventunesimoseculus* panics if they only see words.

So if you think you have that kind of talent, hats off!

It’s not about talent—it’s about the original perspective, the project. Want a concrete example, for illustration 😛?



I had a choice: to convey the unfathomable vulgarity of tourism that prostitutes so many Greek places, I could’ve used a single, telling photo or an over-the-top, violent accumulation of words. Since I’m getting lazier by the day, I went with the text/photo dialogue version.

I can’t wait for your new Indian travel journal and its gorgeous photos 😉

Cat

I felt the same way as Kate while reading your post, but I didn’t quite dare to chime in.

Let’s be practical: we travel to feel, sense, hear, taste, but essentially, it’s to see something different. When it’s technically possible, of course those landscapes, people, colors, and shapes have their rightful place in a travel journal.

You can stick to just writing—it’s not an easy exercise—but in the past, that was mostly the case when, for technical reasons, you couldn’t add photos.

As for the last image, I’ll refrain from any risqué comments this time. Let’s just say we don’t know what those colors on those objects are made of, and there *might* be a risk of carcinogens with prolonged use. So, you were right not to buy them. 😉

Well, I never!

Hi there,

Some of you—and maybe most—travel to see something different if you feel like it, and so you prefer seeing photos in travel journals too. But that’s not what I was responding to. My comment isn’t an attack on journals with photos (I make them myself ), but rather a reply to Kola:

What do 3 photos, pretty, well-done, flattering ones, take away from the strength or interest of a text?

Yes, if the text was written *not* to be illustrated.

I find it wild that you don’t realize this. If I have the time, missionary energy, and pedagogical urge, I’ll whip up three Uzbek travel journals for you—meaning three ways to make you *feel* my trip: the text-only version, the text-photo dialogue version, and finally the silly version where I just slap in photos to illustrate because I *have* to.

Have a great Sunday!

Cat

Hi Catherine,

Goes to show that tastes, colors, and interpretations can vary from one person to another!

I share your opinion, but multiplied by 10 million: the writing isn’t the same at all between a text + photos and text alone. It’s not about having talent (first of all, what *is* talent?) to "know" or "be able" to do one or the other—it’s simply that the approach isn’t the same, the kind of sharing you want isn’t the same, and the pleasure of writing isn’t the same either.

I make photo+text travel journal-albums for my loved ones (family, friends) who are interested in my trips, and I make text-only journals for my own writing pleasure and to share with those who enjoy taking the time to read and appreciate the writing.

There are some gorgeous photo journals here (right, Kate?), and there are plenty of photo albums. And that’s that.

Yes, of course, and one doesn’t prevent the other.

Text-only posts or poetic texts actually enrich this forum. Often, they’re not my cup of tea, but these things and their expression are so personal...

Anyway, others have already had the idea: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exercices_de_style

I’ll whip up 3 Uzbek travel journals for you, meaning 3 ways to make you feel my trip: the text version, the text/photo dialogue version, and finally the silly text version where I just slap in photos to illustrate because I have to.

3 travel journals whipped up... one soft-boiled, one scrambled, and one sunny-side up? Quite the omelet!

It’s a shame to caricature the text/photo opposition to the extreme. While some publishers release their books under a uniform jacket, a signature of their house, others—no less qualitative—publish their no less literary works with an illustrated cover.

Does a photo on the cover of a book or an image as an epigraph to a travel journal dumb down the content?

What Olympic form! Hope there’s some left for Monday 😛

Hello,

There are some beautiful photo journals here (right, Kate?), and there are lots of photo albums. And that’s it.

I was curious enough to scroll through the posts in the "travel journal" section, and some of them don’t have any images. Here, there, or here, etc. Go figure...

@Kola, Laying eggs is related to gestation, not cooking. If you’re one of those people who, when they find a hair in their soup—to stick with your culinary perspective—just decide it doesn’t affect the broth’s nutritional value, this discussion is pointless. We won’t understand each other.

Catherine

I was curious enough to scroll through the posts in the "travel journal" section, and some of them don’t have any images. here, there, or here, etc. Go figure...

You wonder why they were even categorized under "travel journal"! They’re just short recaps, like notebook entries, with price details and other info—kind of like a travel agency’s tempting (or not so tempting ) itinerary.

why were they filed under the "travel journal" section!

I guess it’s simply because that’s where their authors posted them?

Okay, apparently there’s no clear line about what counts as a travel journal...🤪

I get the feeling that if it’s literary and has no photos, it doesn’t fly.

Literary with photos, yes.

Informative, yes in all cases.

@Kola, The "ponte" is related to gestation, not cooking. If you're one of those people who, when they find a hair in their soup—to stay within your culinary perspective—simply judge that it doesn’t affect the broth’s nutritional qualities, this discussion is pointless. We won’t understand each other.

Catherine

So just leave la ponte to the oviparous females...

Your comparison between a hair in the soup and a photo on a book cover or in a travel journal is pure intellectual nitpicking. By dodging the second part of my message—the most important part—you perfectly justify the conclusion of yours: We won’t understand each other.

These are just short notes, notebook-style, with price indications and other details in the style of a travel agency with its enticing (or not ) program

This is probably what the majority of members of this "new" forum want, and what the new Management wants too, without leaving even a tiny space for the minority of members who’d like a little more than charm-free lists 😕

Tomorrow, I’ll try a different approach to the travel journal. To be continued

We’ll read it. Creativity often comes from the challenges you encounter.

Good evening,

Your comparison between a hair in the soup and a photo on a book cover or in a journal amounts to intellectual nitpicking. By dodging the second part of my message—the most important part—you perfectly justify the conclusion of yours: We won’t understand each other.

You might find my use of "intellectual nitpicking" harsh, but since I need to spell it out so clearly: it’s in response to the second part of your message, the most important part. I’ve never seen a book cover used as an illustration—except maybe for my art books, and even then, rarely. I don’t notice it when I buy the book, and when I’m reading it, opened, the cover disappears. So it’s completely insignificant and, therefore, negligible. You can’t say the same about an image "as an epigraph"—one that opens, introduces, or precedes the text. And we’re back to my original point: whether the text engages with that image or whether it’s a foreign element—in other words, a hair in the soup.

Catherine