The processes of Globalization based on major forms of entertainment consumption has promoted the interest of enlarged social actors towards cultural experiencing. Disseminated by social media, new forms of information and knowledge about exotic and new tourism destinations have endorsed an increasing interest towards forms of Cultural Tourism, perceived as a driver of social, cultural, and economic development of tourism destinations. This Cultural Tourism turnout results from a significant change on the traveler's demand, promoted by visitors with higher educational backgrounds, new travelling behavior, demanding a new and renovated interest towards Cultural Heritage, namely tangible, intangible, as well as to storytelling, favoring genuine tourism experiences. Away from staged authenticity and commodification, these new travelers prefer local tourism experiences, in order to try to contact with locals' culture and behaviors and to get in touch with resident's daily life experiences. The present pandemic context has reaffirmed the main importance of this direct contact, more connected to local experiences, by national tourists. With this in mind, we can understand the importance of a Cultural Route and other tourism itineraries as integrated offers that combine both the tourism experience itself and a way for tourists to connect with the communities, participating in some co-creation activities and above all to create strong connection with traditions, helping their economic and socio-cultural development.

A collection of otherworldly photographs of Southern wetlands featuring an original ghost story. Southern wetlands, with their moss-draped trees and dark water obscuring mysteries below, are eerily beautiful places, home to ghost stories and haunting, ethereal light. The newest collection from award-winning photographer Keith Carter, Ghostlight captures the otherwordly spirits of swamps, marshes, bogs, baygalls, bayous, and fens in more than a hundred photographs. From Ossabaw Island, Georgia, to his home ground of East Texas, Carter seeks “the secretive and mysterious” of this often-overlooked landscape: wisps of fog drifting between tree branches; faceless figures contemplating a bog; owls staring directly at the camera lens; infinite paths leading to unknown parts. Similarly, spectral images are evoked in the original short story that opens this book. Ghostlight, writes best-selling author Bret Anthony Johnston, “hovers, darts, disappears. It can be as mean as a cottonmouth, as mischievous aes a child. The closer you get, the farther the light recedes.” A masterpiece of “Bayou Gothic,” Ghostlight challenges our perceptions and invites us to experience the beauty of this elusive world.

"In the beginning, there was no real plan, just a road trip that became a journey." In the years 1986 and 1987, Keith Carter and his wife, Patricia, visited one hundred small Texas towns with intriguing names like Diddy Waw Diddy, Elysian Fields, and Poetry. He says, "I tried to make my working method simple and practical: one town, one photograph. I would take several rolls of film but select only one image to represent that dot on my now-tattered map. The titles of the photographs are the actual names of the small towns. . . ." Carter created a body of work that evoked the essence of small-town life for many people, including renowned playwright and fellow Texan, Horton Foote. In 1988, Carter published his one town/one picture collection in From Uncertain to Blue, a landmark book that won acclaim both nationally and internationally for the artistry, timelessness, and universal appeal of its images--and established Carter as one of America's most promising fine art photographers.

Now a quarter century after the book's publication, From Uncertain to Blue has been completely re-envisioned and includes a new essay in which Carter describes how the search for photographic subjects in small towns gradually evolved into his first significant work as an artist. He also offers additional insight into his creative process by including some of his original contact sheets. And Patricia Carter gives her own perspective on their journey in her amplified notes about many of the places they visited as they discovered the world of possibilities from Uncertain to Blue.

A witty and acerbic novel for our times about corporate greed, the hubris of bankers, contradictions of the clean energy economy and their unintended consequences on everyday people. Finance, environmentalism, rare-earth mining and human frailties collide in a complex of flawed motives. We follow Peter Mount, the self-made Chief Executive of a London-based rare-earth mining company as he and his business are buffeted by crisis-torn Royal Bank of Scotland and by his own actions, real and imagined. Meanwhile in Oregon, Amy Tate and her group of local environmental activists do their contradictory part to undermine a component of the green economy, unwittingly super-charged by the Chinese state. The repercussions of events in pristine Oregon are felt in the corporate and financial corridors of New York and London with drastic consequences. This is a deeply involving novel about the current workings of capitalism, miscommunication, causes and unexpected effects, love and survival. "After reading a lot of claustrophobic, navel-gazing books, it is refreshing to pick up The Umbrella Men -- Rich, immersive novel of the type that really isn't seen much these days...what makes this book so readable and likeable are the well formed characters whose lives are disrupted personally and professionally by machinations of those in power." - Netgalley reviewer "A witty, globally-scoped expose of corporate greed and environmentalism told through an absorbing character-rich tale... Astute on the personal, environmental and financial butterfly effects of capitalism, this expansive novel is packed with surprises and reveals the complex and often contradictory interplay between human and economic forces." Joanne Owen, Love Reading UK

Dubbed a "poet of the ordinary" by the Los Angeles Times, photographer Keith Carter came of age during the turbulent '60s and '70s, developing a singular, haunting style that captures both the grit and the glory of the human spirit. Showcasing a broad array of his work-which has been shown in more than one hundred solo exhibitions in thirteen countries-Keith Carter: Fifty Years spans delicate, century-old processes as well as digital-age techniques to yield an enduring vision of the world around us. The interlaced images in Keith Carter: Fifty Years feature contrasts of natural light and darkness as we explore the mythos of time and terrain, the familiar and the magical, and the varied creatures that inhabit our earth. The human form-depleted or energized, solitary or with a beloved partner-becomes a meditation on aging and loss, which have affected Carter profoundly in recent years. Yet these losses have spurred in him a sense of discovery, not despair. Rather than arranging the works chronologically, Carter chose to group them into correlations, echoing the kaleidoscopic effect of memory. The result is mesmerizing; each artifact draws us into an experience of intensity and wonder, enduring long after the page is turned.

Winner, Jury selection, American Institute of Graphic Arts, 2001 Communication Arts 2001 Design Annual, 2001 Featured title in Print A-Z, 2001 Haunting in their mystery and beauty, Keith Carter's horses fill the frame like spirits in a dream-but without ever ceasing to be real horses. Whether he's photographing thoroughbreds preparing for the elaborate maneuvers of dressage or a farm nag grazing in a field, Carter meets horses on their terms, not his. Looking into their enigmatic eyes in these photographs, you wonder, "What are these creatures thinking?" until you realize that Keith Carter's horses never really give up their secrets. This volume collects some 75 duotone images of horses and riders, most of them never before published. Accompanying the pictures is a photographer's statement, in which Keith Carter describes the genesis of this project and muses on what it is about horses that draws him to them as photographic subjects. Distinguished art and photography critic John Wood places Carter's equine photos within the wider Western tradition of painting and photographing animals, while praising Carter's rare ability to portray animal subjects without producing kitsch. In his words, "Carter is probably photography's first truly great master of the animal photograph, and none of his other animal photographs are more powerful than his photographs of horses."

In Fireflies, Keith Carter presents a magical gallery of photographs of children and the world they inhabit. The collection includes both new work and iconic images such as "Fireflies," "The Waltz," "Chicken Feathers," "Megan's New Shoes," and "Angel" selected from all of Carter's rare and out-of-print books. When making these images, Carter often asked the children, "do you have something you would like to be photographed with?" This creative collaboration between photographer and subject has produced images that conjure up stories, dreams, and imaginary worlds. Complementing the photographs is an essay in which Carter poetically traces the wellsprings of his interest in photographing children to his own childhood experiences in Beaumont, Texas. As he recalls days spent exploring in the woods and creeks, it becomes clear that his art flows from a deep reservoir of sights and sounds imprinted in early childhood.

A lyrical meditation on the joys, wonders, and anxieties of childhood, Fireflies brings us back to the small truths that are often pushed aside or forgotten when we become adults.