A Wes Anderson landscape? not the real world
There is no doubt that the well-known director, actor and screenwriter wes anderson he has his own particular style when creating each and every one of his works. That small independent world to which he takes us in films like Travel to Darjeeling (2007), Moonrise Kingdom (2012) or The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) is riddled with frontal shots, symmetrical compositions, a pastel color palette and spaces in which predominate water, buildings, train cars, libraries, lighthouses and other elements that end up forming the common places of Wes Anderson, so characteristic of his films.
And like all good creators, throughout his professional career he has managed to hundreds of thousands of people from all over the globe declare themselves to be great followers, addicts and followers of his projects and works.
One of them is found in Wally Koval, project creator @AccidentallyWesAnderson , an Instagram profile that he has been giving users since June 2017 snapshots with locations that follow the same style and patterns than the filmmaker, but this time showing real places, which they really exist.
THE ORIGIN OF @ACCIDENTALLYWESANDERSON
And how did this creative Instagram account come about? “My wife Amanda and I had always been avid travelers and fans of Wes Anderson movies. I was on Reddit one day and started seeing places that seemed like they had been ripped right off the movie screen. That's when I found a thread that was full of these real-life landmarks and destinations," Wally Koval tells Traveler.es.
This is how he began to discover the most interesting stories, spaces and backgrounds set in the world of Wes Anderson. Thanks to this started his own 'travel wish list' until it evolved into the Instagram account @AccidentallyWesAnderson which currently has almost 800,000 followers and more than 800 publications in little more than two years of life.
A very creative profile made up of snapshots that may well have been taken from some of the sequences of the acclaimed director's films accompanied by a short text written by Wally Koval telling the story of the photograph in question.
Hotels, swimming pools, lighthouses, train stations, wagons, lookout posts, boats, fountains, rooms, facades, beaches and everything that comes to mind inspired by symmetry, frontality, causality and harmony have a place in this Instagram profile.
THE COMMUNITY OF 800,000 USERS IN TWO YEARS
Currently, Wally Koval and his wife Amanda work full time (he in events and she in catering), so this is a project that they dedicate their spare time and leisure to it, but that deep down is his true passion and reason for being.
“As this initiative has grown so large, we have started soliciting design and strategy assistance from our group of friends who are bursting with talent and who have so generously donated their time and knowledge to this amazing community,” says Koval.
And your way of gathering inspiration? both dedicate a great deal of time and effort in selecting all the information that comes to them on a daily basis through their communication channels or through the inspiration they receive from the different sources of information.
“We try to see it holistically, with locations from all over the world, a variation of the types of landmarks, as well as the style of the photographer. We want to make sure it's a complete compilation of our wonderful community that gathers around the world”, account when talking about their way of working.
As the publication has grown, More and more people are interested in the project who decide to contribute their grain of sand and send their photos to the Instagram account.
Wally and Amanda review each and every one they receive and after time and dedication they choose the ones that finally end up in the feed depending on a combination of aesthetic characteristics, as well as its composition and the interesting story that the particular location has to tell.
A project that started as a hobby has become a source of inspiration that never stops growing: “I never expected this kind of support from so many amazing people. The community has grown significantly, far beyond our expectations. The only thing that makes me so happy is the amount of 'good vibes' and positivity that emanates from her. Constantly we have adventurers who share their personal experiences they had in the places we featured, exchanging tips and stories, it's so much fun to watch!”
A PROJECT LOADED WITH BEAUTY
@AccidentallyWesAnderson is much more than just an Instagram account that shows the beauty of the director, It is a profile that talks about beautiful places in different parts of the world with a story behind it that is worth telling and reading.
And as Wally Koval declares, it is a proposal that invites to open our eyes and minds to everything that this spectacular planet has to offer us: “The amazing photographers and people we have met through this project have had a huge impact on our lives and have helped us to opening our eyes to all the different kinds of cultures and experiences that we never thought were possible.”
An old school in California, a park in New Zealand, a swimming pool in Glasgow, a hotel in Michigan, a beach in Malmö, a phone booth in Singapore...nothing escapes Wes Anderson's footprint. Do we launch ourselves in search of his particular world on our next trip?
You can send your photographs through their website or if you prefer to do it in physical format, do not hesitate to send it to the postal address: @AccidentallyWesAnderson. 442 Lorimer Street Ste D #224 Brooklyn, NY 11206 United States.