The #DZDNMD Diaries series presents a new generation of nomadic photographers travelling to the farthest corners of the world so you don’t have to
adidas nmdReeling off a list of incredible cities you want to visit is easier said than done. Evenings spent ogling a bunch of travel sites, Whatsapping all your mates insisting it’s going to be the best! holiday! ever! are, for any of us, all too familiar. Real life gets in the way and you’re back on the daily grind, the only evidence of your ‘travelling’ comes in the form of an obligatory trip back to mum and dad’s once a month – and that’s, really, just a few stops on the Northern Line.
At the end of last year we asked four incredible young UK photographers to get moving on such pipe dreams, a series we dubbed the #DZDNMD Diaries, in honour of the launch of the NMD shoe from adidas Originals. Spurred by the brand’s unconditional lust for discovery and movement, each selected the one place they’d been dying to go, and off they went. Dexter Navy ditched the tourist traps of Morocco for the path less travelled – bartering for snakes in Tangiers and watching local kids play football; Bella Howard blew our minds with a fantasy-like expedition to Iceland, where she crashed Björk’s 50th birthday party; Clara Balzary road tripped to one of the wonders of the natural world, the Grand Canyon; and Yimmy Yayo fell in love with Montreal’s offering of majestic architecture.
In return, we ensured their images would help inspire a new generation of globetrotters. Guided by a keen sense of seeing the world in a different way – seriously, put down your Lonely Planet guide – by immersing themselves in the magic of the people and the details that are too often missed when you’re being led by a thirst for doing that annoying thing at the Eiffel Tower/Leaning Tower of Pisa/any tall building in a foreign country. Hit follow on the below @handles to clock up some vicarious air miles.
ROBERT LANG (@robertlangrulz)
Los Angeles-based photographer Robert Lang shared this snap from Cuba of a young boy keeping a watching – albeit sleepy – eye over his beloved trainer collection. It’s a hint of voyeurism coupled with a dreamy colours palette that caught my eye. “When I first traveled to Cuba 7 years ago the youth said they wanted what the west have”, Lang writes as the image’s caption.
HELIAS DOULIS (@heliasdoulis)
A crumbling mountain side and ageing, slightly sagging skin – a reminder that gravity affects everything on this earth is a striking juxtaposition that really sets this image off, shot at Psili Ammos Beach in Greece.
STAS KSESTA (@stasksesta)
Self-described “Human geographer from Siberia” Stas Ksesta’s shot of Capello’s (Capuletti) house in Verona, Italy, at first appears like it should be the most loved up place in the world – as lovers write their names on the wall. Bring your eyes into focus on the forefront and you’ll see it’s no more than a tourist trap, as expressionless people rush past one another without a second glance.
LYDIA JAMES (@lydiajamesx)
This image throws my OCD out of whack for all the right reasons. Taken in Chichicastenango, a small town in Guatemala – with London as grey as anything right now – I’m a sucker for the mismatched colour combinations and thick lines.
MARTA MARINOTTI (@marta.marinotti)
The fact that the van and car in the background match the colours on these two brothers’ shirts is all I need to say. Shot in Senegal, this photo makes me smile – and that’s all I ask.