Exotic Encounters is a project that circumvents tourist snapshot photography, removing the emphasis on the destination and placing it on the tourists themselves. Once a person leaves their home and enters the role of a tourist, they also become a photographer carrying around a camera and using it to create solid memories from an otherwise fleeting experience.
Individuals become spectators in foreign places, experiencing the exotic through the tourism industry. These photographs are from an area called Old San Juan, a historic district of Puerto Rico's capital city. Thousands of tourists stream off of cruise ships here and wander through San Juan's narrow streets. They leisurely take in their destination before retreating back to the ship at night, then waking up in a new destination the next morning.
These photographs look at the tourists themselves in order to create a portrait of tourism a look at the way people spend their excess income and vacation time exploring foreign destinations.
