What's a photo travel slide? - Photographic Society of America standards

PSA Journal, March, 1997 by Wade Clutton

The Photo Travel Division was created in 1969 and very shortly thereafter the founders established the definition of a Photo Travel Slide. The definition, having been amended essentially just once in over 25 years, has stood the test of time very well. This definition must be read to the judges prior to the judging of any international photo travel exhibition.

In order to understand the definition, as well as to answer the question "What's a Photo Travel slide?" let's review the full definition: "A color slide that captures the feeling of a time and place and portrays a land, a people or a culture in its natural state. Ultra closeups that lose their identity, model shots or manipulated slides do not qualify. Photo Travel slides have no geographical limitations."

One photographer-teacher brought us the view in slide evaluation that, first, we must avoid giving the judge(s) an excuse for throwing us out of the competition and, second, we must give the judge(s) a reason to say "yes." This logic works quite well in answering "What's a Photo Travel slide?"

Thus, by definition, our first requirement is to "avoid being thrown out." Ultra close-ups (which include a lovely mushroom presentation, a stream rippling pictorially through the woods, etc.), which result in the loss of geographical identity, will be disqualified. Studio-type model shots (including basement photography, shooting sessions, etc.) are not eligible as they really do not represent "travel photography." And, third, "manipulated slides" which include derivations (bas reliefs, diazochromes, etc.), overlays (i.e. adding a nice sun or moon), and slides with image-altering filters do not qualify. Bottom line, the photo travel definition contemplates what we might call "straight photography." The kind of pictures most travelers would be likely to take while traveling.

After we avoid being thrown out of a competition, we need to give the judge(s) a positive reason for saying "yes" to our slide. As a starting point in this pursuit, we need to create a "working" photo travel definition.

For most of us, travel tends to presume a view of life or culture that is different from what we see in our daily life. In other words, a Southern California judge may see a picture of the Gateway Arch in St. Louis in a different context than would a person in St. Louis, a judge in India may see a picture of Indian life very differently from how a judge in Belgium views it, and an English judge may see a picture of Argentina as "foreign and photo travel" as an Argentine judge may view a picture of England. Further, our views of travel are dynamic and are continually being shaped by our personal, photographic, educational and travel experiences. In other words, when we think of images which fit the photo travel definition, we are much more inclined to think of faraway points than we are to think of something nearby and common to us. Last, but not least, we need to assume the judge is a reasonably knowledgeable and reasonably experienced traveler.

The first test in our working photo travel definition is "Will the judge feel this slide captures the feeling of a specific and identifiable place or area?" It may well be that answering this question is the most difficult hurdle for the photo travel photographer to get past. The label "Boy's Town" is universally, recognized in a verbal/audio sense, but few people outside of Omaha would visually recognize this internationally known landmark. A St. Louis resident would recognize a picture of the Poplar Street Bridge crossing the Mississippi River, but few outside the local area would see the image as capturing the feeling of a specific and identifiable place or area. in both cases the subject might be considered a "photo travel image" in a technical sense, but in a practical sense these images, like many monuments and landscapes, will fail in photo travel competitions for lack of universal recognition. By contrast, famous bridges such as the Golden Gate would pass the test with flying colors.

More and more frequently one sees nature images in photo travel competitions. Polar bears, like many of Mother Nature's creatures, do have a relatively limited territory and one can argue that these images do, in fact, "portray a land ... in its natural state." Brown bears feeding at Brooks Falls in Alaska, penguins in Antarctica, and tigers in India may well be similar examples. Some photo travel purists disagree with this interpretation, but based on the frequency of nature images appearing in photo travel competitions, one might conclude that the definition's application is evolving and part of the evolution is an enlargement of viewpoint.

Our second test is, "Will the judge feel this slide portrays a land, a people or a culture?" Again we have to view the question in the context of "universally recognized." Institutions, monuments, human activities and, of course, people fit into this broad category.

Interurban railroads linked rural and urban communities in the American Midwest for many years prior to the widespread use of the automobile. Truly the interurbans were a part of the land, they were a part of the people and they were a part of the culture but few photographers would view a picture of an interurban car racing alongside a corn field as telling us about a land, a culture and/or a people. Some facets of history and institutions may be interesting to historians, special interest groups and others, but these historical images may not be "universally recognized." There are many institutions which are popularly perceived as telling us about a people, a land and/or a culture. The Amish buggy is a classic example.