Travel Photography for your Walls from The Lens and I

There’s something about travel photography that I’m always drawn to. I think it’s the fact that a moment in time has been captured on film that’ll never be captured again.

Whether it’s a beach, a bustling city, or a quiet moment down a forgotten laneway, I think there’s such a skill to snapping that magical shot at just the right time. Especially with all of the right elements in place. And speaking from experience trying to snap photos around Melbourne, it’s a skill I haven’t quite nailed yet. And it’s so much harder than it looks!

If you’re drawn to a similar aspect of travel photography as I am, then you’re in luck. Allow me to draw back the curtains to unveil the brand I’m currently going gaga over when it comes to dazzling art for your walls. The brand is called The Lens and I, and it’s operated my Melbournian Ilana Sallick.

Travel Photography from The Lens and I

Ilana tells me that she’d been travelling for quite some time before she decided to take her travel photography to Etsy for the public to consume. It was after friends and family kept suggesting she sell her work that she finally bit the bullet and turned her passion into a business.

“I started to gain some interest and had people enquire about purchasing my photos,” Ilana tells me. “But it wasn’t until I moved to London a few years ago that I started to take it more seriously, and my first stop was creating my Etsy store”.

It was in London that Ilana captured one of her best-selling images; the Chanel Black Taxi Cab print. She took the photo in Old Bond Street, London. As with so many amazing travel photography snaps, it didn’t come together as quickly as you might think.

“I stood there for about an hour trying to capture the perfect shot,” Ilana explains. “And what I love more about it now is the Chanel store has moved locations, so I know the shot can’t be completely replicated”.

Although the brand started when Ilana was settled in London, she has most recently planted her feet in Melbourne after a stopover in her hometown, Sydney. It was during her time in Sydney that she photographed one of her other popular works; the amazing waves crashing over Bondi Icebergs. This is an iconic destination featured in my book, Sydney Precincts, and an absolute must-see if you travel to NSW.

“It was taken a few years ago during a crazy summer storm. I have sold quite a few large prints that now hang in the walls of many homes, and a hair salon in America”.

One of the things that interests me about the consumption of travel photography is why certain images appeal to certain people. Some love imagery from places they’ve never been to. For others, it represents a moment in time they weren’t able to snap themselves. And then, for people like me, it really doesn’t matter if they’ve been there or not; if it’s stunning – as Ilana’s work is – you want it on your walls.

And then sometimes, businesses want your work to help the interiors design concepts come to life, as was the case when one of the big New York based interior design firms contacted Ilana to secure one of her Parisian prints, Lovers Kiss.

“It was for a project they were working on for Le Meridien Hotel in Tampa Florida,” Ilana explains. “My photograph was one of a few hand selected artworks to be chosen and is now framed on the walls of the hotels French inspired café, Bizou Brasserie”.

If you’re as smitten as I am with the work you see in this post, see below for how you can snap up some of Ilana’s work:

The Lens and I: Etsy Store | Instagram

Do you snap travel photography on your holidays? I’d love for you to share some of your thoughts in the comments below.