We’ve all stayed at home for what seems like a very, very long time. Our suitcases sit sadly at the back of the closet, and our passports are expiring with very few stamps. Sigh. Never have our readers turned to ZOOM’s Viewfinder pages more eagerly!
Started in ZOOM’s fifth issue, the Viewfinder pages grew out of the compulsion of certain Sunshine Coast residents to share their good fortune by mailing issues of ZOOM to faraway friends and relatives. Perhaps they were enticing friends to visit, with photos of sea and forest, a thriving arts scene, and friendly faces. There may have been a degree of smugness involved. But these faraway friends had enviable locales to share too.
ZOOM creator Edmund Arceo explains, “People keep telling us that they mail copies of ZOOM to their relatives and friends in faraway places, so we thought of asking them for proof!”
It wasn’t long before ZOOM was posing for the camera in many farflung places. Moscow, Newfoundland, the Sahara, Southeast Asia, Chile . . . ZOOM rides camels. ZOOM skis. ZOOM loves dining al fresco, a pint in an Irish pub, a well-appointed yacht, a crowded temple, a simple tent, a mountain peak, a busy bazaar, a canoe, and even goes underwater!
Sunshine Coast residents are seasoned travellers, and we love to talk about our home. ZOOM can help. A picture is worth a thousand words, and if you don’t have the Malay/Russian/Spanish (whatever!) words for “pebble beach” or “ancient forest” or “sparkling stream” at the tip of your tongue, it’s a great idea to take ZOOM along, and just point.
Where have you taken ZOOM? Send photos for consideration to .
