Apr

A Virtual Vacation in Southeast Asia

by Meredith Mullins on April 6, 2015

Snorkeler in water, part of the virtual vacation in Southeast of Zilla van den Born, inspired by wanderlust. (Image © Zilla van den Born)

Wanderlust inspires the perfect vacation.
© Zilla van den Born

When Wanderlust and Imagination Meet

Zilla van den Born had always wanted to see Southeast Asia—the crystal blue waters of the Indian Ocean, the vine-encrusted temples, and the bustling streets bursting with color and the energy of daily life. Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos called. Her wanderlust answered.

She set off on a 42-day adventure—a vacation of a lifetime—the envy of her friends and family.

The Dutch graphic designer was soaking up the sun on pristine beaches, snorkeling eye to eye with exotic fish, sampling spicy Asian food, visiting ancient monuments, and traveling in rickety rickshaws.

Zilla van den Born eating with chopsticks on her virtual vacation in Southeast Asia, inspired by wanderlust. (Image © Zilla van den Born)

A taste of Thai
© Zilla van den Born

Like any good friend and family member, she was letting the folks back home experience her adventures—providing photos and updates so that they could travel with her via social media and texts.

The only catch—none of it was real. She never left her home city of Amsterdam. The trip was an invention . . . of the most imaginative kind.

Illusions of Reality

Her goal was to prove “how common and easy it is to distort reality.” She wanted to show that we all most likely stretch the truth for our social media persona and that, with the right media manipulation tools, we can make anything seem real.

Zilla van den Born on a pristine beach during her virtual vacation in Southeast Asia, inspired by wanderlust. (Image © Zilla van den Born)

The beauty of a pristine beach
© Zilla van den Born

Don’t We All Want An Awesome Life?

The project seeds were sown as she scrolled through her own Facebook timeline.

“I was feeling jealous of the apparently awesome lives others live in comparison with mine,” she admitted.

“I realized that we tend to forget that people filter what they show on social media. We’re creating some sort of ideal world that reality can no longer meet.”

Zilla van den Born leaves on her virtual vacation in Southeast Asia, inspired by wanderlust. (Image © Zilla van den Born)

The adventures begin . . .
© Zilla van den Born

Let the Adventures Begin

Zilla set out to create a virtual vacation—the ideal adventure—keeping the secret from everyone but her boyfriend.

She researched meticulously. “I read blogs of other travelers so I knew what problems others run into and how to fix them,” she explained. “I even looked up train and flight schedules so that I wouldn’t make any mistake in my fake story.”

A Master of the Virtual

Zilla photoshopped herself into travel photos she found on the Internet, texted the day’s highlights based on her research (cleverly timed to reflect her fake time zone), and posted Facebook updates according to her phony itinerary.

She created some of her “alternate” realities by photographing herself at the Buddhist temple in Amsterdam, jumping into her apartment swimming pool with her snorkeling gear, buying Asian souvenirs to place in the background of her Skype calls, and cooking (and photographing) Thai meals in her own kitchen.

Zilla van den Born at a Buddhist Temple on her virtual vacation in Southeast Asia, inspired by wanderlust. (Image © Zilla van den Born)

Visiting a Buddhist Temple . . . in Amsterdam
© Zilla van den Born

She completed the deception by getting her “beach tan” at the neighborhood tanning booth.

When asked which “distortion” was the most fun, Zilla answered thoughtfully. “Honestly, I didn’t have a lot of fun. It was much more difficult than I had thought to have to lie to all the people I care about. It was a very stressful experience. I enjoyed the ‘coming home’ part most. That was such a relief.”

Zilla van den Born with child at an ancient ruin on her virtual vacation in Southeast Asia, inspired by wanderlust. (Image © Zilla van den Born

The art of distorting reality
© Zilla van den Born

The Deception Revealed

How did people respond when they learned the truth?

“They were shocked at first, confused and angry that they were worried for nothing,” Zilla admits. “My mother stopped speaking to me for a week. In the end, everyone understood why I did it, and I have won their trust back.”

Zilla van den Born at her computer on her virtual vacation in Southeast Asia, inspired by wanderlust (Image © Zilla van den Born)

Zilla’s “set” for her Skype calls home, decorated to look like an Asian locale
© Zilla van den Born

Oh, I See: The Real Thing

What’s better than a virtual vacation? The real thing of course. Zilla did finally make the trip to Southeast Asia.

“Even though I got to ‘see’ the highlights and landmarks by searching online, nothing beat the experience of really going there,” Zilla said upon returning from her real journey. “It was amazing.”

A palm tree beach with and without Zilla van den Born on her virtual vacation to Southeast Asia, inspired by wanderlust. (Image © Zilla van den Born)

Nothing beats REALLY being on this beach.
© Zilla van den Born

Zilla proved several points in her wanderlust experiment, but the lasting lessons for her were:

It’s a good idea to be cautious about believing what you see online (or in photographs) and
A real adventure trumps a virtual vacation 100% of the time.

“Oh, I see” moments of the best kind.

To see more of Zilla van den Born’s work and her book “Sjezus zeg, Zilla” (“Oh God, Zilla”), visit her website. To see her new project “Ctrl Alt Repeat,” where she manipulates her own self-portrait in post processing in as many different ways as her imagination will take her, visit her Facebook page or view ctrl_alt_repeat on Instagram.

Comment on this post, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

Meredith Mullins 1 Comment

Adventure Travel/Art of Travel/Southeast Asia

Mar

India—Cultural Encounters of the Colorful Kind

by Meredith Mullins on March 16, 2015

Flower seller, car-to-car, cultural encounters in Northern India that provide travel inspiration. (Image © Meredith Mullins)

A car-to-car flower seller in Delhi
© Meredith Mullins

Travel Inspiration from Northern India

I expected sensory overload . . . and India delivered.

Bright colors warmed by the sun
Labyrinthine bazaars, far more organized than first glance implies
Horn blasts and shrill shouts from streets crowded with cars, rickshaws, animals, cycles, and carts
Spices that pervade the body—smell, taste, and touch
Dust and wood-fire smoke permeating air and clothes
Mounds of golden flowers—in markets and on shrines to the gods
People living their lives in the open—in the streets, on rooftops, in alleys, in unwalled shops, or in just about any open space

Rooftop in Old Delhi, cultural encounters in Northern India that provide travel inspiration. (Image © Meredith Mullins)

Up on the roof . . . in Old Delhi
© Meredith Mullins

What I did not expect was the depth of hospitality or the pride of place that I experienced from the people of India.

Meredith Mullins 14 Comments

Cultural Encounters/India/The World's Photography

Feb

Landscape Photography with a Deep Sense of Place

by Meredith Mullins on February 23, 2015

Landscape photography (Homeward Bound II) by Roman Loranc showing a slice of California scenery, a road toward Mount Shasta. (Image © Roman Loranc)

Homeward Bound II (Mount Shasta, CA)
© Roman Loranc

Roman Loranc: Rooted in the California Natural World

There is an empty canoe drifting in the Consumnes River in the Central Valley of California. It’s photographer Roman Loranc’s ride. His way of slipping gently into one of the landscapes he loves.

He is facing away from the escaping canoe, knee deep in the river, with his tripod steadied on the river bottom and his 4 x 5 camera trained on the forms just visible in the distant mist. He hasn’t yet noticed that he is stranded.

It doesn’t matter. He is in another world. A world where he is seeing, smelling, hearing, feeling, and tasting the scene he is photographing. He has lost himself in the moment.

Landscape photography (Phantom Canoe) by Roman Loranc showing California scenery including the central valley wetlands and a canoe. (Image © Roman Loranc)

The Phantom Canoe. Roman turned “being stranded” into a work of art
© Roman Loranc

The Essence of Landscape Photography

A good landscape photographer understands composition, quality of light, and the effects of changes in time, weather, and season on the subject.

A great photographer understands all of the above, but also belongs to the scene he or she is capturing—rooted to the place. Connected with all senses.

Roman Loranc is such a photographer. One who understands how to be fully present when capturing a moment on film.

Landscape photography (Oak, Carmel Valley) by Roman Loranc showing a slice of California scenery, an oak tree in Carmel Valley. (Image © Roman Loranc)

Belonging to the place (Oak, Carmel Valley, CA)
© Roman Loranc

Being Part of the Natural World

The canoe episode reveals much about how Roman lives his life.

“I know that I am a part of the natural order of things,” Roman explains. “I know because I feel it when I am quiet and let myself be a human being rather than a human doing. We are all part of the natural world, although we sometimes forget.”

Landscape photography (Skyline Forest) by Roman Loranc showing a slice of California scenery, tall pines with light. (Image © Roman Loranc)

A connection with all senses (Skyline Forest, Monterey, CA)
© Roman Loranc

He describes his time photographing as a process of opening all his senses, not just the visual. “I am present, sensing and feeling, my mind clear, connected to this world, my world.”

He talks of hearing insects buzzing, feeling a cool breeze, smelling the pungency of decaying leaves, tasting the moisture in the air. And because these things are intrinsically woven into his photographs, we feel something too.

Landscape photography (Road to Mauna Kea) by Roman Loranc showing a slice of scenery with a dark road in Hawaii. (Image © Roman Loranc)

Road to Mauna Kea
© Roman Loranc

His images have a haunting power. Drama and mystery. But, there is also a bit of melancholy, as if the simple beauty of these places is fleeting. Things change . . . and sometimes threaten to disappear forever.

A Photographic Path Across Cultures

Roman’s photographic life began in his childhood in Poland. He received his first camera at age 7 or 8, as he recalls. It broke soon after, but the short time he spent with it was life-changing. The idea of slicing a moment out of time to preserve forever was magic.

At 19, in Russia, he traded a pair of Levi’s for a 35 mm camera and darkroom equipment (a pretty good trade). Mentors and inspirations came his way.

Landscape photography is made by Roman Loranc with view camera. (Image © Bob Reade)

He loved the chemistry (and alchemy) of the darkroom but freely admits that his first prints were horrible. He worked hard to learn despite the lack of materials in communist Poland. These milestones—both serendipitous and fought for—provided an undeniable path to the art of photography.

He left Poland in 1981 in search of freedom, defecting to the United States. Wisconsin at first, and then west. Somehow he knew California would become home.

“I had to leave in order to live, and the U.S. was where I felt I could do that best,” he remembers.

He was rewarded not only with personal freedoms but also with magnificent landforms.

Landscape photography (Santa Lucia Highlands) by Roman Loranc showing a slice of California scenery, mountains and sea. (Image © Roman Loranc)

Respect for the Land

He took to the California Central Valley (and later the Mount Shasta area) like Ansel Adams took to Yosemite and the Westons took to the California central coast.

Like all artists who respect the land, he learned that the better you know it, the more its beauty reveals itself.

Landscape photography (Tule Raft) by Roman Loranc showing a slice of California scenery. (Image © Roman Loranc)

Statuesque trees, minimalist tule, and misty mornings became his life blood. He admits to feeling a bit guilty when people love his photographs. It is nature that is beautiful, he says. “I get rewarded, but I don’t know if I deserve it.”

He shouldn’t be so humble. He is dedicated to his craft; does everything by hand; and, with vigilance to be envied, makes sure every image is consistent with his vision.

Landscape photography (Crucified Landscape) by Roman Loranc showing a slice of California scenery, fields and clouds. (Image © Roman Loranc)

A Technique with Commitment

Although he appreciates technology, having grown up without electricity or running water in the communist era, he is loyal to the traditional approach to photography.

His technique conveys his emotional response to a scene—from his choice of black-and-white film to his dedication to the perfection of prints—photographs where depth and mood are supported by the right palette of tones, the luminescence of the light, and the addition of sepia and selenium tone to provide an additional layer of feeling.

Landscape photography (Krakow, Poland) by Roman Loranc showing scenery in Poland. (Image © Roman Loranc)

Oh, I See: The Common Thread

Most of Roman’s photos celebrate the natural world via landscape photography, but he has also explored manmade forms. He describes the common thread as “moments of enlightenment.”

Mount Shasta at sunrise or a cathedral or synagogue in Eastern Europe can provide the same sense of the “gift of existence.”

“I understand the interplay of life and its dependency on a vital planet,” he says. “I feel a part of it, not apart from it.”

It is this connection that allows us into his world through his images. And we’re glad to be a part of it.

Landscape photography (Valley before the Rain) by Roman Loranc showing a slice of California scenery, a coming thunderstorm. (Image © Roman Loranc)

Roman Loranc’s “Collection of New Work” is at the Photography West Gallery in Carmel, California until March 14, 2015.

Photography West Gallery has also produced two monographs of Loranc’s work—Fractal Dreams and Absolution.

To see more of Roman’s work, visit his website.