Inspired by the pastel and perfectly symmetrical world of the American filmmaker, Accidentally Wes Anderson (AWA) is an Instagram page that now counts 1.8 million fans, or rather, 'Adventurers.'
AWA was born in the summer of 2017, in a Brooklyn flat where Wally and Amanda, husband and wife, decided to open an Instagram profile and share the image of the abandoned Hotel Belvédère on the Furka Pass road in Switzerland.
Initially born as a personal exercise, like a bucket list of places to visit together with their dog Dexter, this project soon spread, becoming a truly global community.
From New York to Amsterdam to Mumbai, every day hundreds of curious and observant travellers capture details of immaculately composed architecture, landscapes, and more, which accidentally seem as if they were conceived by the perfectionist mind of Wes Anderson.
And although AWA has grown bigger than they could have imagined, Wally and Amanda's goal remains the same: to share "the most beautiful, idiosyncratic, and interesting places on earth" and provide their cyber-travel-mates with a daily dose of inspiration, hopefully sparking in them the desire and curiosity to venture out there to see things with their own eyes.
In 2020, three years after the start of this adventure and at a time when travelling was just a fading memory, they published 'Accidentally Wes Anderson, The Book'.
This New York Times Best Seller collects the best pictures sent to them by Adventurers from all over the world. Pictures that seem to be frames extrapolated from the films of the director himself, who not only authorised the publication but even wrote the foreword: “Now I understand what it means to be accidentally myself. Thank you”.
The book is conceived as a travel guide, a collection of beautiful places to encourage people to explore new places and the stories behind them.
And if that's not enough, you can buy AWA, The Book & Postcard Set, which also contains a set of 26 removable postcards in a hardbound book, perfect for avid travelers and aspiring adventurers.
AWA, The Book & Postcard Set by Wally Koval
To stay on topic, here are some of our favourite images from the Snail Mail section: “The Last Post Office”, North Hobard Post Office, Post office at the End of the World, and Ochopee Post Office .
Words Asia Pedron
Photos © Accidentally Wes Anderson
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