By Francesca Lungarotti
Cultural travel photography creates an intense feeling of being there or dreaming of being there and in that moment this feeling pervades and wins over the image itself. This feeling is drawn from the memory of moments lived and not, trying to rediscover familiarity with eras that we or our loved ones have lived through or seen in magazines.
One imagines having been or having had someone who lived and walked those markets, those squares and streets, smelled the food, someone actually breathed that dust! Artifice and perfection leave room in this area of photography for the highly emotional character of recognition, of the re-appropriation of past times and places.
This emotion that photography transmits is inherent in the very nature of photography, whether produced by a camera or a digital device. Photography transmits emotions, transmits intentions, meanings that go beyond the visible but start with it.
Shikara boats: living on the water. Dal Lake. Srinagar. Kashmir. India 
Shepherd spinning the wool. Taglang pass. Ladakh. Jammu and Kashmir 
Wood and papier-mache Shah Hamden Masjid. 1395. Srinagar. Kashmir. India 
Festival at Pyang monastery. Ladakh. Jammu and Kashmir 
Tikse monastery near Leh. Ladakh. Jammu and Kashmir 
Celebrative mask at gompa. Leh. Ladakh. India. Asia 
Gompa. Likir. Ladakh. India. Asia 
Pedlar, Trinidad, Cuba Island, West Indies 
Man and cigar: Havana: Cuba Island: West Indies: Central America 
The Thrissur Pooram festival. Dresssing an elephant for the festival. Thrissur. Kerala. India . Thrissur. Kerala. India. Asia 
USA. New York. Manhattan. times square 
USA. New York. Manhattan. Pier 17. a wedding 
USA. Florida. Key West. The Sunset Celebration on Mallory Square 
USA. California: Los Angeles – Baywatch At Santa Monica Beach 
Charles River with The Longfellow Bridge. Boston. Mass. USA 
Petra, Jordan. Middle East 
Tai Kang Rd – art galleries, cafes, shops hidden in an alley with typical renovated Shikumen houses. Shanghai, China, Asia 
Luxury train form Shangai, China, Asia 
Preparation of ravioli bun in street restaurant. Henan, Kaifeng, China 
Portrait of a young Tibetan at the bus station in Beijing; China 
Mah jong players against an orange wall. Henan, near Luoyang, China 
Beihai Park, girls in traditional dress at Fang Shan Restaurant or Imperial Restaurant. Beijing; China 
Night food market with dozens of stalls. Henan, Kaifeng, China 
Bison ride through columns of steam at Yellowstone National Park’s Grand Prismatic Spring. Wyoming, USA
Travel photography freezes moments, it does not create them. It can generate them artificially but if they have not actually occurred they will be challenged to take root in anyone’s heart.
An emotional door; a door between what has been and what our mind grasps by imagining beyond the image created by a finger clicking or touching a device.
All images featured in this post are copyrighted to Cubo Images / Universal Images Group. These and all images found on Kaleidoscope are available for licensing. Please contact us at info@universalimagesgroup.com
Beautiful and striking series. Very inspiring!