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A few years ago, my wife accepted a short-term research fellowship in the Netherlands, so we rented an apartment sight unseen (via Craigslist Amsterdam, no less) and set off on a small adventure. I Wish You Where Here is a book of photographs that documents my experience of that time.

Living in a foreign country for five months creates an odd situation: I felt somewhere between a "tourist" and "resident", not really either one totally. It was an amazing existence, and it inspired me to think about the things that define tourism, travel, and familiarity with a place. 

THE PHOTOGRAPHS

I never set out to make specific pictures, but as I photographed visual themes began to emerge. I photographed in and around tourist sites like museums and churches. People observing art and architecture proved compelling. Crowds, couples, individuals, cameras, frames, modes of transit; all of these and more weave together to form I Wish You Where Here.

WHAT'S UP WITH THE TITLE?

The book takes its title from a postcard I found in a stationery shop in central Amsterdam. Inside, there was a selection of older postcards that I began to mindlessly flip through. One made me stop. The text grabbed me first: I WISH YOU WHERE HERE. What was I looking at? A typo? A mistranslation? The image seemed just as odd. I had been seeking postcards with views of Amsterdam to send to friends, but the white sand beach clashed with the cold, grey Northern European autumn outside. My mind flooded with thoughts of the places I'd been, the people I missed, and the way that travel can generate a simultaneous sense of presence and an almost "pre-longing" for the memory being created. I bought the card, not really knowing why. It would turn out to be an inspiring purchase.

WHAT'S THE PUBLISHING PLAN?

I've teamed up with Anchorless Press, a small, independent Canadian publisher based in Toronto. Anchorless works with emerging artists and has agreed to help me with the publishing process as well as distribution. The book itself is well into the design process and will be a professionally printed, high-quality hardcover, featuring a blaze orange book cloth cover with a debossed I Wish You Where Here emblem. The layout will be minimal and straightforward, leaving the photographs themselves to tell the story.

THANKS!

My heartfelt thanks to you for taking the time to learn more about my project and offering whatever support you can. To see more of my work and what else I'm up to, visit www.lukestrosnider.com