Bleak resort

Pictures were taken at some of the most popular Caribbean resorts, including Puerto Rico, Roatán, the Virgin Islands, and the Bahamas. Where thousands of tourists constantly fill up their cameras with vacation photos. Each of them strives to make the same picture that any internet service shows us for a query about the Caribbean: a beach with white sand that is washed by turquoise sea waves and a palm tree, which certainly should grow near the shore. Despite the fact that sometimes it is enough to pass just a mile to the side, and you will be able to see with your own eyes a completely different picture and feel the atmosphere of this region.

Not many people are willing to go a little further than the city center, studded with souvenir shops and a nearby beach, to get acquainted with the local colour. People prefer to stay in their comfort zone. As a result, all photos of these places available online seem to resemble one another.

The Caribbean is mostly low-income and largely relies on the private sector. Many of the islands have a clear division into developed tourist zones, where "elite" real estate is hidden from "other territories" with poor populations. This border passes just behind the fence surrounding the resort. Life of locals is sedate; there is no place for haste. The specificity of the tropical climate makes the landscapes look barren, creating a striking visual contrast with the crowded tourist areas. So I've tried to focus on the dreary feeling that you experience when examining deserted landscapes of remote areas of seemingly "heavenly" places.

Most places remote from the port and not marked as "must see" in the tourist booklets look much more prosaic. And fewer people are interested in visiting them, let alone taking pictures of rural areas. When passing a small house with faded paint, burnt out in the scorching sun, you do not notice that it stands on the same blue bay shore, and the sand is just as white as on a tourist beach.