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Normally, Joel’s passions—and his photography—focus on international travel and exploration. But he couldn’t quit the nagging desire to pursue a project in the US—one he could pick up easily in-between his assignments abroad. However, he still wanted the project to be connected to travel in some way. Then one day, it clicked,
I grew up in the Carolinas, so I’ve driven past the I-95 tourist traps hundreds of times. And every time I do, my kids have their noses pressed to the car windows, as if they were being pulled by a giant magnet. I had resisted stopping for years, but I always wondered if there was something interesting that I could photograph. A few months ago I had some time to kill, so I finally gave in, pulled over, and grabbed my camera.
From that first photo, Joel was hooked. He’d found his American project: “exploring America’s love/hate relationship with tacky, artificial tourist attractions.” Joel says,
Many people dislike tourist traps and view them as an eyesore, but a lot of people seem to enjoy them. What, exactly, is the attraction? Why are we drawn-in by these signs, statues, and buildings? How do they convince us to pull over and spend our money on things that we don’t really need? Are these tourist traps a form of American culture, or simply the lack of culture?
View the rest of the series on Joel's website, http://www.joelcollins.com.
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