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Temporary Bliss

    an investigative photo documentary

Exclusive 17-page photo essay from our investigative journalist team in collaboration with award-winning photojournalist Liam Maloney. Location: Toronto, Canada Copyright Wondereur 2023.

MEET with artist James Robert Durant curated by passionate art advisor Elizabeth Petrova.

0
A
“HOW A TROPICAL DESTINATION CAN HAVE SUCH AN INFLUENCE IS AMAZING TO ME.”
B
“It symbolizes what a lot of people think of as their ideals.”
C
“It’s a place they can go to and relieve everything inside.”
D
“IF I CAN TAKE SOMEONE THERE MENTALLY, THEN MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.”
E
F
“I LOVE TO WANDER. SOMETIMES I GET COMPLETELY LOST.”
G
“In Miami, I rode maybe 50 miles up on Ocean Drive with a broken down moped and had to carry it home… carrying my moped in paradise.”
H
“I came to explore the whole idea of the beach, and how it’s been manipulated and exploited in advertising campaigns.”
I
“You’ll see this beautiful area of land that nobody’s on.”
J
“I’M SORT OF TRYING TO FIGURE IT OUT WHAT PARADISE IS TO ME.”
K
“I started playing with images from family albums, images of my mom and dad when they were younger.”
L
“Now, I start with a photograph that I took from an helicopter, I print it, and then I want to stress it, to paint it, and to rough up the beach.”
M
“I WANT PEOPLE TO NAVIGATE IN AND OUT OF REALITY.”
N
“My parents immigrated to North America in the ’70s from Barbados. It’s always been a major interest to me – going down to these countries and seeing what it was like growing up on a small tropical island.”
O
“I LOVE IT WHEN PEOPLE COME UP TO ME AND SAY ‘OH MY GOD, WHERE IS THIS?'”
P
“... AND I SAY ‘OH, IT’S NOWHERE. IT’S A COMBINATION OF PLACES.'”