The phrase "travel photography" conjures up visions of landscapes, monuments and exotic locales. But a new photo festival aims to redefine the genre: it wants to include all images that portray an outsider's vision.

In fact, according to Lola Mac Dougall, the artistic director of the Travel Photo Jaipur festival now underway, the very category of travel photography should be questioned. At this event, the organisers have attempted to give photographers the opportunity to interpret travel as they perceive it. "The idea is to approach any given reality, even if it is happening round the corner, with a new perspective," said Mac Dougall.

Travel Photo Jaipur, which continues until February 14, is an open air festival. It includes 14 exhibitions, each telling a story about the relationship that photography and travel have had since the invention of the medium.

Here are five photographers who have approached this concept in unique ways and created beautiful images from their experiences of “travel”.

Nishant Shukla
Nishant Shukla's project, Brief Encounters, deals with travel as other people experience it. His photographs are of fellow travellers from a train journey he took in 2008 from Jammu to Kanyakumari. "By recording different types of people against the consistent backdrop of the train, the camera granted me the license to interact and stare at my travel companions,” he said.

Eunice Adorno
Though the subjects in her series The Flower Women live in the same country as she does, Eunice Adorno is still the “outsider”. The photojournalist documented the daily lives of an isolated group of Mennonite women in the states of Durango and Zacatecas in Mexico over several years. Her images focus on the emotional bonds that these women share.

Laurent Chehere
In his series, Flying Houses, French photographer Chehere manipulates photos of ordinary homes in Paris to turn them into fantastical levitating buildings that almost seem determined to fly off in search of adventure.

Gideon Mendel
The South African photographer spent nine years working in, and photographing, areas affected by floods. His series, Drowning World, has been recognised as one of the most poetic visual statements about climate change. In the series, many photographs are disconcerting portraits whose subjects stoically stare at the camera while standing knee-deep, even neck-deep, in muddy water.

Xiaoxiao Xu
In her project, titled She Huo, Xu captures a centuries-old rural celebration that takes place around Chinese New Year. In 2014, Xu found herself travelling to North-West China, which she describes as “a rough and unknown part of the country”, to attend this event. The She Huo ceremonies use costumes, instruments for elaborate performances that aim to bring good harvest and fortune. “I have tried to capture the atmosphere of curiosity, alienation, fairytale, mystery and longing in this folk art,” said Xu.

Travel Photo Jaipur is taking place at several locations around the city. It ends on February 14.