“Parked Car in Positano, Enlarged,” from Touring Tourism, 16” x 20” C-print, 2022
Megan Bainbridge
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“Parked Car in Positano, Enlarged,” is a 16" x 20" color darkroom photograph from my "Touring Tourism" series. This photo series explores my experience as a German American studying abroad throughout Europe during Summer 2022. I created it to encourage others to alter how they approach traveling. Read on to learn more about the "Touring Tourism" series and this photographic art piece.
In my "Touring Tourism" series, I explore my role as a tourist traveling from the United States to study abroad throughout Europe. I chose to photograph both recognizable attractions and lesser-known locations.
In my artist statements, I provide context to explain my thought process and experience traveling in and around Barcelona, Spain; Rome, Italy; and Prague, Czechia. I explore observed cultural differences and the habits of tourists.
The purpose of this body of work is to invite the viewer to reflect on how they travel and act as a tourist. In particular, I aim to promote the concept of ethical tourism and encourage travelers to be mindful of how their actions impact the residents of the regions that they visit. Through anecdotal narrative, I reflect on how much more enriching travel becomes when authentic connection is prioritized.
I am passionate about this topic for multiple reasons. On the academic side of things, I studied Sociology in college, obtaining a Bachelors in the subject alongside my Photography BFA. Personally, I have a dual-national lens when looking at how people from different places act. This is because I grew up navigating the difference between German cultural attitudes that my mother taught me and the societal norms of my home in the United States. In addition, I grew up in a coastal city in Southern Maine that is impacted by tourism every summer and can relate to how residents of a travel destination view tourism.
I use experimental darkroom techniques for this series, creating dual exposures by layering negatives, as well as collaging multiple 35mm negatives into the circular silhouette of the darkroom enlarger head.
With all this being said, here is the artist statement for “Parked Car in Positano, Enlarged":
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An iconic location that visitors flock to in Italy is the Amalfi Coast. While visiting the cliffside village of Positano, located along this same coast, I realized how much the city catered to tourists. As someone who lives in a coastal tourist town in Maine, it reminded me of home and the love-hate relationship that residents have with tourists.
While walking along a coastal road that led outside of the center, I came across an antique parked car. I decided to photograph the same car repeatedly at a relatively slow shutter speed to capture the blur of other vehicles passing by. This piece is an experimental darkroom enlargement of four 35mm negatives, a composition used for one other piece in the Touring Tourism Exhibition collection.
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If you felt particularly moved, inspired, or educated by this piece, consider supporting the work that I do by purchasing a print, t-shirt, sticker or magnet from the megarten.shop. My business is small, queer and woman-owned, and artist-run. Plus, all of my artwork is human-generated. You can learn more about me as an artist here.