In 1492, Christopher Columbus discovered America. Less than 500 years later, it has become one of the most popular tourist destinations. What remains of the Wild West has now been transformed into National Park where people can quietly enjoy breathtaking landscapes.
Nowadays, unexplored worlds are located far beyond Earth. Mars is the next planet where humans plan to land. Will it ever be a point of attraction for future space tourists? A French photographer Julien Mauve tried to imagine this situation and depicted it in a photo series ‘Greetings from Mars’.
Mauve carefully chose places that looked similar to martian landscapes. Imaginary tourists on the red planet wear space suits and… do what typical tourists do on Earth – show v-signs or take selfies, using a selfie stick. ‘It’s interesting to observe the way we act in front of the camera,’ explains Mauve, ‘how we include ourselves in the landscapes, how those landscapes trigger the desire to affirm our presence. And how the way we take pictures exposes the vanity involved in our endless pursuit of self-definition.’