{{Short description|Online community and book series}} {{Use mdy dates|date=December 2025}} {{Use American English|date=December 2025}} {{Infobox organization | name = Accidentally Wes Anderson | abbreviation = AWA | logo = AccidentallyWesAnderson-logo.png | logo_alt = Bold red typographic logo with horizontal line | image = | image_alt = | caption = | formation = {{Start date|2017|06}} | type = Online community | purpose = {{Flatlist| * Photography * travel }} | headquarters = | location = | region_served = | language = English | founders = Wally Koval, Amanda Koval | awards = {{Plainlist| * Webby Award (2022) * Webby People's Voice (2022) }} | website = {{URL|AccidentallyWesAnderson.com}} }} '''Accidentally Wes Anderson''' ('''AWA''') is an online community, website, and book series that curates photographs of real-world locations resembling the visual style of director Wes Anderson. Wally and Amanda Koval started the project in 2017.<ref name="Variety2023">{{cite news |last=Saperstein |first=Pat |title='Accidentally Wes Anderson' Creator on How He Feels About the Filmmaker's Look Spawning Endless Memes |url=https://variety.com/2023/film/features/accidentally-wes-anderson-wally-koval-aesthetic-memes-trend-1235647142/ |newspaper=Variety |date=June 17, 2023 |access-date=November 30, 2025}}</ref> Anderson has no formal role,<ref name="FastCompany2020">{{cite web |last=Rawlins |first=Aimee |title=See What Wes Anderson Sets Would Look Like in Real Life |url=https://www.fastcompany.com/90565342/see-what-wes-anderson-sets-would-look-like-in-real-life |website=Fast Company |date=October 20, 2020 |access-date=November 30, 2025}}</ref> but wrote the forewords to both books.<ref name="Dazed2020">{{cite web |last=Cafolla |first=Anna |title=Read Wes Anderson's Foreword for the Accidentally Wes Anderson Photobook |url=https://www.dazeddigital.com/film-tv/article/50004/1/accidentally-wes-anderson-photobook-wally-koval-interview |website=Dazed |date=August 3, 2020 |access-date=November 30, 2025}}</ref><ref name="LAT2024" /> He called the first "a very entertaining collection of images and also an especially alluring travel guide."<ref name="Dazed2020" /> It became a ''New York Times'' besteller.<ref name="BostonGlobe2024">{{cite news |last=Wyrwa |first=Emily |title=Coolidge Corner Theatre Among Locales in Book from Accidentally Wes Anderson: Popular Instagram Account Inspires Second Book of 'Adventures' |newspaper=The Boston Globe |date=November 2, 2024 |page=B.6 |access-date=November 30, 2025 |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/10/23/arts/accidentally-wes-anderson-adventures-book/}}</ref> The books and website feature locations from all seven continents.<ref name="Frommers2020">{{cite web |last=Thompson |first=Zac |title=Accidentally Wes Anderson: A Worldwide Hunt for the Director's Just-So Aesthetic |url=https://www.frommers.com/slideshows/848433-accidentally-wes-anderson-a-worldwide-hunt-for-the-director-s-just-so-aesthetic/ |website=Frommer's |date=October 2020 |access-date=November 30, 2025}}</ref>
==History== The project grew out of a 2017 Reddit thread called "Accidental Wes Anderson," in which users posted photographs of buildings and landscapes that resembled locations from Anderson's films.<ref name="Guardian2018">{{cite news |last=Hunt |first=Elle |title=Accidentally Wes Anderson: Instagram Finds Stylised Symmetry in Real Cities |url=https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/jan/04/accidentally-wes-anderson-instagram-symmetry |newspaper=The Guardian |date=January 4, 2018 |access-date=November 30, 2025}}</ref> Wally Koval launched the Instagram account @AccidentallyWesAnderson that June, with the Hotel Belvedere on the Furka Pass in Switzerland as its first post.<ref name="FastCompany2020" /> By early 2018, the account was receiving thousands of submissions a week.<ref name="Guardian2018" />
Wally and Amanda Koval run the account together.<ref name="Guardian2023">{{cite news |last=O'Connor |first=Joanne |title='You Know It When You See It': Accidentally Wes Anderson Exhibition Opens in London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2023/dec/08/you-know-it-when-you-see-it-accidentally-wes-anderson-exhibition-opens-in-london |newspaper=The Guardian |date=December 8, 2023 |access-date=November 30, 2025}}</ref> Neither has a background in photography or writing.<ref name="Variety2023" /> Both lost their jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic and focused on AWA full-time.<ref name="Variety2023" />
The project has worked with Anderson's team on promotional efforts, including ''Isle of Dogs'' (2018) and ''The French Dispatch'' (2021).<ref name="PopPhoto">{{cite web |last=Wu |first=Marissa |title=Dive into the World of Accidentally Wes Anderson |url=https://www.popphoto.com/inspiration/accidentally-wes-anderson/ |website=Popular Photography |date=January 1, 2022 |access-date=November 30, 2025}}</ref>
AWA launched a website in 2020 in response to followers' asking for location guides.<ref name="FastCompany2020" /><ref name="BostonGlobe2022">{{cite news |last=Daley |first=Lauren |title=Accidentally Wes Anderson Has Some Postcards for You |newspaper=The Boston Globe |date=October 10, 2022 |page=C.12 |access-date=November 30, 2025 |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/10/09/arts/accidentally-wes-anderson-has-some-postcards-you/}}</ref> The site has won two Webby Awards.<ref name="PopPhoto" /><ref name="Webby">{{cite web |url=https://winners.webbyawards.com/2022/websites-and-mobile-sites/email-newsletters/art-design-culture/218917/accidentally-wes-anderson-the-website |title=Accidentally Wes Anderson, The Website |website=The Webby Awards |date=2022}}</ref>
==Aesthetic== The AWA aesthetic is symmetrical, color-coordinated, and has unusual details.<ref name="Guardian2018" /> Common subjects include hotels, lighthouses, theaters, steeples, outdated technology, and pink buildings.<ref name="NYT2020">{{cite news |last=Lange |first=Alexandra |author-link=Alexandra Lange |title=When Life Looks Like a Wes Anderson Movie |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/29/movies/wes-anderson-design-buildings.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=September 29, 2020 |access-date=November 30, 2025}}</ref> Each post is intended to suggest an imagined Anderson film, not imitate an existing one; and includes the location's history.<ref name="Guardian2023" />
==Reception== Most contributing photographers are amateurs shooting on phones.<ref name="Guardian2023" /> Anderson scholar Matt Zoller Seitz has said the account shows how fans recognize Anderson's visual aesthetic in actual places, particularly as his recent films rely more on built sets than real locations.<ref name="NYT2020" />
==Publications== * {{cite book |title=Accidentally Wes Anderson |date=2020 |publisher=Voracious |location=New York |isbn=978-0-316-49273-7 |others=Foreword by Wes Anderson |postscript=: ''New York Times'' best seller.}}<ref name="Variety2023" /><ref name="Dazed2020" /><ref name="BostonGlobe2024" /><ref name="NYT2021">{{cite news |last=Harris |first=Elizabeth A. |title=Millions of Followers? For Book Sales, 'It's Unreliable.' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/07/books/social-media-following-book-publishing.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=December 7, 2021 |access-date=November 30, 2025}}</ref> * {{cite book |title=Accidentally Wes Anderson Postcards |date=2022 |publisher=Voracious |location=New York |isbn=978-0-316-45053-9}} * {{cite book |title=Accidentally Wes Anderson Jigsaw Puzzle |date=2023 |publisher=Laurence King Publishing |location=London |isbn=978-1-3996-1766-6}} * {{cite book |title=Accidentally Wes Anderson: Adventures |date=2024 |publisher=Voracious |location=New York |isbn=978-0-316-56942-2 |others=Foreword by Wes Anderson}}<ref name="LAT2024">{{cite news |last=Patrick |first=Bethanne |title=17 Best Coffee-Table Books for Angelenos |url=https://www.latimes.com/lifestyle/story/2024-11-03/best-la-and-california-coffee-table-books-gift-guide-2024 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=November 3, 2024 |access-date=November 30, 2025}}</ref>
==Exhibitions== thumb|200px|alt=Visitor standing under a patterned archway looking at framed artwork on a peach-colored wall|A visitor at the 2024 London exhibition AWA has organized exhibitions in Asia, Europe, and the United States since 2021. * 2021: ''Hidden Wonders'', Sotheby's, Geneva, Switzerland, and New York, United States<ref name="Sothebys2021">{{cite web |title=Accidentally Wes Anderson Founder Wally Koval Opens up His World of Hidden Wonders |url=https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/accidentally-wes-anderson-founder-wally-koval-opens-up-his-world-of-hidden-wonders |website=Sotheby's |date=May 4, 2021 |access-date=November 30, 2025}}</ref> * 2021–2022: ''This Is an Adventure'', Ground Seesaw, Seoul, South Korea<ref name="KoreabyMe2022">{{cite web |title=Accidentally Wes Anderson: A World of Inspiration |url=https://koreabyme.com/accidentally-wes-anderson-a-world-of-inspiration/ |website=KoreabyMe |date=April 4, 2022 |access-date=November 30, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220523111249/https://koreabyme.com/accidentally-wes-anderson-a-world-of-inspiration/ |archive-date=May 23, 2022}}</ref> * 2022: ''Popping Up in Macao'', Youth Culture Promotion Association of Macao, Macao<ref name="MacaoMag2022">{{cite web |last=Santos Silva |first=Sara |title=Accidentally Wes Anderson x Macao Art Exhibition |url=https://macaomagazine.net/through-the-lens/accidentally-wes-anderson-x-macao-art-exhibition/ |website=Macao Magazine |date=December 7, 2022 |access-date=November 30, 2025}}</ref> * 2022: One Hundred Shoreditch pop-up, London, United Kingdom<ref name="Dezeen2022">{{cite web |title=Accidentally Wes Anderson Immersive Experience |url=https://www.dezeen.com/eventsguide/2022/10/accidentally-wes-anderson-immersive-experience/ |website=Dezeen |date=October 28, 2022 |access-date=November 30, 2025}}</ref> * 2023: ''Too Much Landscape'', Warehouse TERRADA, Tokyo, Japan<ref name="TokyoArtBeat2023">{{cite web |title='Accidentally Wes Anderson' Exhibition Is Coming to Tokyo |url=https://www.tokyoartbeat.com/en/articles/-/accidentally-wes-anderson-exhibition-is-coming-to-tokyo-news-202302 |website=Tokyo Art Beat |date=February 21, 2023 |access-date=November 30, 2025}}</ref> * 2023–2024: ''The Exhibition'', South Kensington, London, United Kingdom<ref name="Hypebeast2023">{{cite web |title='Accidentally Wes Anderson: The Exhibition' Comes to London |url=https://hypebeast.com/2023/10/accidentally-wes-anderson-the-exhibition-london-launch-announcement |website=Hypebeast |date=November 1, 2023 |access-date=November 30, 2025}}</ref> * 2024: ''Encounters'', Shenzhen, China<ref>{{cite web |url=https://m.damai.cn/shows/item.html?itemId=745698973913 |title=偶遇韦斯·安德森 |trans-title=Accidentally Wes Anderson |website=Damai |language=zh |access-date=November 30, 2025}}</ref> * 2024–2025: ''Adventure Never Ends'', Ground Seesaw, Seoul, South Korea<ref>{{cite web |title=Accidentally Wes Anderson 2 |url=https://en.groundseesaw.co.kr/product/pre-sale-discount-accidentally-wes-anderson-2/1251/ |website=Ground Seesaw |access-date=November 30, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241212220059/https://en.groundseesaw.co.kr/product/pre-sale-discount-accidentally-wes-anderson-2/1251/ |archive-date=December 12, 2024}}</ref> * 2025: The Mills and Airside, Hong Kong<ref name="TimeOutHK2025">{{cite news |last=Chan |first=Cherry |title=Accidentally Wes Anderson to Hold First Hong Kong Exhibition This July |url=https://www.timeout.com/hong-kong/news/accidentally-wes-anderson-to-hold-first-hong-kong-exhibition-this-july-071425 |newspaper=Time Out Hong Kong |date=July 13, 2025 |access-date=November 30, 2025}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{Official|https://www.accidentallywesanderson.com/}}
* {{Commons category inline}}
{{Portal bar|Photography}} Category:Book series introduced in the 2020s Category:Instagram accounts Category:Internet properties established in 2017 Category:Internet-based works Category:Photography websites