The means of travel may come and go, but the impulse is constant.
The relationship between the photographers and the road trip is long-established. As soon as cars were capable of meeting the demands of photographers, they became an essential companion for those documenting their journeys. Not only did this encourage photographers to travel widely with their cameras attached to them, but also to take road trips specifically with the purpose of photographing. Proving its continued popularity, Izzie Farr (@izziefarr) undertook an American road trip photographing the sights of the Pacific Northwest.
The Pacific Northwest is a region lucrative to photographers for its diverse landscapes, populated by dense rainforests, winding rivers and misty lakes, all peered down on by the Cascades and the Olympic mountain ranges. Farr began in Seattle, traveling through Mount Rainier National Park, then to Whidbey Island and finally across the Olympic Peninsula. There is a quiet charm to Farr's photographs; they consistently capture tranquil moments with very few, to no people around. Within the series, there is a harmony between natural and man-made landscapes, as she occasionally captures boats, houses and distant cities on the horizon of her trails, all an undercurrent to the grand nature on show. The stillness of her compositions and the focus on natural landscapes, evokes a sense of calm, offering a reprieve from the chaos of everyday life in the lively towns and cities many of us reside in.
Izzie Farr
© Izzie Farr
For the entire trip, and for all of her work, Farr shoots exclusively on film, capitalising on the grainy, warm textures that digital often cannot offer. For this particular trip, Fuji Superia X-tra 400 was the choice of film for her 35mm camera. Farr and I discussed how shooting on film has a tendency to slow you down as a photographer; it encourages selectivity and intention within every shot, often on the basis that unlike digital, there is not an endless stream of photographs available to take. Travel photographers are typically key advocates for shooting with analogue, often drawn to this slower pace, or for the undeniably immersive, tactile process. Farr mentioned that additionally, there is a sense of nostalgia that correlates well with film and shooting the open road, echoing the moments of a lost era, old yet beloved photographic techniques and works of road trip photographers that came before us.
Izzie Farr
© Izzie Farr
Izzie Farr is a Scotland based film photographer. You might know her from the viral, timely and thoughtfully composed letter she wrote to Kodak in 2021 urging them to publish a more diverse range of work, as their feed at the time was dominated with white, male photographers. She has since published various travel works, photographing in the UK and elsewhere, which you can find these on her website. You will also find her work with @filmgathering, a creative community that she co-founded that work to organise trips for shooting analogue photography.