LEVISON WOOD
THE EXPLORER, WRITER AND PHOTOGRAPHER HAS WITNESSED A TRANSFORMATION IN GLOBE-HOPPING AND PICTURE-TAKING
Today, we want more experiences and like pushing boundaries. People are as likely to go to the Galápagos islands as the Greek islands. Partly, this is down to social media creating competition. It’s all about who has the better stories.
Long-haul, I think India has changed the most over the last 20 years. In the 1990s, it was still incredibly poor. Since then, the middle classes have boomed and there’s a lot more domestic tourism.
When I went to Dharamsala in 2001, it was a little village full of hippies; when I revisited two years ago, it was primarily wealthy Indian tourists. Short-haul, there are lots of interesting places that are still in the shadows, like Moldova.
With camera phones, it’s easier to take decent travel images. It’s a lot more competitive but then again, it’s a lot more democratic. I used to always use film, but now I love my iPhone camera. It means you can take more photos because you’re carrying around less kit.
In terms of style, I think people want more authenticity than they did 20 years ago, when shiny, blingy photos were all the rage. My best images have been reportage and have really captured the significance of an event or scene, even if the composition wasn’t perfect.
Wood is an award-winning photographer and is this year judging San Miguel Rich List 2017. sanmiguel.co.uk/richlist