Photo Pilgrim

I don’t know that I’ve ever read or watched a Rick Steves piece. I’ve heard of him and may have scoffed at the idea of a vacation tour. But after reading this New York Times Magazine interview, I need to do some more research.

In it, he talks about being a tourist, a traveler or a pilgrim and that really stuck with me.

Most travelers I know, they’re proud to be known as a traveler as opposed to a tourist: “I’m more thoughtful — I’m not just here to shop and get a selfie. I’m here to immerse myself in the culture and learn.” That is a traveler, to become a temporary local. A traveler learns about the world, but I think a pilgrim learns about themselves, and you learn about yourself by leaving your home and looking at it from a distance.

As photojournalists, are we photo tourists, photo travelers or photo pilgrims? I suspect the majority of the time we are travelers, but every now and then we can become pilgrims. Particularly when working on longe pieces, ones where we have to truly experience what we document.

Maybe becoming photo pilgrims is the reward for bring a good photo traveler.