Authentic Travel

Review of Blue Highways: A Journey Into America by William Least Heat-Moon (Fawcett, 1982)

In the late 70s travel book, William Least Heat-Moon follows the rural highways and tells of what he encounters. Heat-Moon takes photos along the way to prove that he actually met the people he writes of and we all therefor believe him. This tactic of “proving” the trip he takes is an attempt to convey that he had an authentic experience with authentic people.

Having done a number of travel documentaries my self I have had to think a lot about how to convey the nitty gritty details or my own investment in the places i visit and the people I encounter. In the project Farm Together Now: A Portrait of People, Places and Ideas for A New Food Movement (Chronicle Books, 2010), my co-author Amy and I wrote introductions with rich descriptions of our visits to various farms across the US. These introductions preceded in-depth Q&A style interviews with the farmers themselves. This approach combined our interpretation - sharing what we thought about what we saw - with the “straight from the horses mouth” authenticity that can be claimed in a Q&A interview.

I wonder what compels authors to do this. To share the words of the people directly, or to share photos of everyone you write about. As if we are worried our own impressions will be suspicious.