Be guided on the adventure with NavPix™ technology
February 2007: To be at the centre of something is to be in a very special position. Knowing where our centre is gives us a sense of balance - and being at the heart of a situation makes us feel like we have a better understanding of it. This month, photographer Justin Leighton and writer Maia Sissons will begin their journey to discover the centre of Europe, taking into account not only the geographical and political boundaries we’re familiar with, but the historical and mythological intricacies that have made our continent such a fascinating place. The husband and wife team, along with members of their family, will be guided across a host of countries by satellite navigation pioneer Navman, and will use NavPix technology to record the most significant and engaging spots in each country they visit.
The seeds for this project were sown 22 years ago, when Justin was lost in Poland while shooting a story about life behind the Iron Curtain. As he stood by a bus stop wondering where exactly he was, he spotted a small plaque which read: ‘You are now in the Centre of Europe’. Over the ages, more than a dozen sites have claimed to be the Centre of Europe; Justin and Maia will travel to each of the most prolific contenders for this title, and will investigate the reasoning behind the claim in a bid to discover the real centre.
The family’s journey will consist of two trips, first looking at the centres of Europe as a political entity before examining the unusual and bizarre methods of measurement towns and cities have used in order to declare themselves at the centre of the continent. They will travel to a field near Gelnhausen in Germany, the geographical centre of the current European Union, Torun in Poland, the birthplace of Copernicus, and the island of Saaremaa off Estonia. Their journey will culminate in a trip to the Europas Parkas in Lithuania, which is currently considered to be the ‘true’ centre of Europe.
In a journey that will combine travel, history, geography and science, Justin and Maia will record the details of their expedition on a blog which you’ll find at www.journey2.tv. You’ll be able to keep up with the team as they upload daily entries, pictures and video content, and will be able to offer your own questions and opinions on this unique project. The journey will also be documented in a coffee table book containing the photography taken by Justin along the way, while another book will highlight Maia’s expertise in travel writing. The team is also currently in talks with a television production company, who is planning to turn the story into a documentary for terrestrial television.
The team will not only use their GPS devices to georeference each spot claiming to be the centre, but will also use NavPix technology to record the journey itself - they will take NavPix of many of the places they stay, some of the great restaurants and cafes in which they eat, and the beautiful and interesting locations they discover along the way. These NavPix will be loaded onto Navman’s NavPix library at www.navman.com/navpix, so that other Navman users who would like to visit can download them onto their device and navigate there.
‘This project is a chance for us to show the historical wealth that our own continent has to offer,’ says Justin Leighton. ‘So many of us will travel to Australia or America for the trip of a lifetime, without realising what amazing locations are on our own doorstep. By investigating the fascinating and often bizarre stories behind each of the towns and cities who profess to be at the centre of Europe, our journey will show the everyday reality of a lively and captivating continent that you won’t find in an ordinary tourist guide.’
‘We’re thrilled to be involved in this project,’ says Colin Holloway, PR and Internet Director at Navman Europe. ‘It’s great to see our products being used in a way which is educational, entertaining and inspiring at the same time. We hope that we can help Justin and Maia to spread the word about the curious and compelling places they visit by featuring the NavPix in our online library.’
For more information about the trip, and to look at the blog, go to www.journey2.tv.
For more information about Navman’s range of satellite navigation products, go to www.navman.com, or visit the NavPix library at www.navman.com/navpix.
Press Contact:
For further information, 300 dpi JPEG images or to arrange an interview, please contact:
Jane Leah, Kate Baxter or Leonie Martin
Beam Agency, 1 Rosoman Place, Exmouth Market, London EC1R 0JY
T: + 44 (0) 20 7833 9595
E: jane@beamagency.com, kate@beamagency.com or leonie@beamagency.com
Editor’s Notes:
About Justin Leighton and Maia Sissons
Justin Leighton is a photographer with over twenty years’ editorial and corporate experience. He has documented many of the most dramatic moments in Europe’s history during that time, including the fall of the Berlin Wall, the spread of democracy into Eastern Europe, war in the Balkans, and conflict and resolution in Northern Ireland. Maia Sissons is a freelance journalist working in London. Previous to having children, she managed projects advising governments around the world on economic and institutional issues, including a DFID-sponsored project advising the Russian Trade Ministry on its accession to the WTO.
Mabel Leighton is nearly four years old. She loves parties, ponies, dancing and meeting people. She is very keen to learn some new languages. Mathilda Leighton is two and a half. She likes puppies, butterflies and chefs. She is looking forward to eating her way across Europe.
Ilze Kadegis is Maia’s mum. She was born in a refugee camp in Germany, and arrived with her family in England in 1947, when she was a year old. Their first house was a cottage in a field in the Midlands with no running water or electricity. Ilze retired from her job as a Special Needs Advisory Teacher last month, and is looking forward to spending more time with her grandchildren. Part of our journey will trace the route that her parents took from Latvia to the UK.
About NavPix
NavPix is a breakthrough technology unique to Navman’s satellite navigation systems, which allows the user to navigate to pictures. A NavPix is a digital image of a location with the precise geographical data embedded into it - NavPix of a number of locations can be downloaded from the Navix library onto a Navman N-series device, so that the user can then click on the image, and navigate to this location without having to know its address or postcode. Navman worked with Lonely Planet to create hundreds of NavPix of beautiful locations and tourist spots, that are available to download now. Go to www.navman.com/navpix.
About Navman’s N-series
Navman’s N-series products - the N20, the N40i and the N60i - all feature Navman’s breakthrough NavPix technology. Users can download NavPix from the online NavPix library (www.navman.com/navpix) onto any of these devices, and navigate to the selected location simply by clicking the image on screen, without any address or postcode details. The N40i and N60i both also feature an integrated camera so that you can create your own Navix - any picture you take is automatically geotagged and saved to a NavPix album on your sat nav. In addition, any NavPix that you take using the N40i ir N60i can be uploaded onto the NavPix library and shared with other Navman users.