'Honest' travel posters show dark side of tourism

It's easy to imagine the perfect holiday: white sand beaches, azure skies, sparkling waves and not a care in the world. But in his new series of "honest" travel posters, Belgian self-described "gratist" (graphic designer during the day, stencil artist by night) aims to get behind the postcard-perfect images used to lure tourists abroad.

To date, Monk, as he's known, has published posters for 11 different locations, highlighting, among other problems, pollution and crime in Rio de Janeiro, sex tourism in Thailand and habitat loss in Borneo.

With a simple, clean design featuring a few bold colors, the posters recall the style of classic travel posters from the mid-20th century.

The series of travel posters isn't Monk's first work. Last year, he created a set that punctured the happy childhood memories of millions, showing classic Disney characters killed by hunters. The images were first done by pencil, then finished on computer. Previous projects have made use of spray paint, stencils and stickers.

For more posters and other projects, check out Monk's work on Facebook and Instagram.

All photos in slide two of the picture gallery were provided by the Palestine Poster Project Archives (PPPA).