Time for the New Year’s tradition here and share some photos from the old year to bring in the new

While 2017 had been my busiest, non-stop year on the Major City project, I was able to somehow beat it in 2018 by covering 31 major cities (33 cities in all). Once again, I clocked in just under 5,000 miles (7,500 km) on foot, while hitting major cities in 22 countries, from the Americas to Africa and Asia. I started in city #67 Santiago, Chile and finished in #97 Yangon, Myanmar, closing in on the 100+ major cities project goal. In 2019, I will work on wrapping up the photography part of the project while starting on the editing of the first book, which I hope to be ready for publishing by the end of the year.

While I really didn’t have any breaks from the project in 2018, I did guest speak and judge at the StreetFoto Festival while covering San Francisco and fit in teaching a few workshops, including Las Vegas and Sydney (with Sam Ferris). In 2019, I plan on making more time for workshops and will announce the schedule here very soon. All in all, it was an extremely busy, challenging year and while this project and obsessive focus is really taking its toll on me, it was my most satisfying year for photography. I covered some of the more dangerous regions, like Central America and Africa, but didn’t change a thing about my approach of going everywhere alone on foot, including many places that even locals don’t go, let alone photographers or non-locals. But while some negative situations did occur, which I’ll share here later, overall it was my most rewarding year when it comes to challenges. As for the blog, I will be able to focus on it more this year and make some changes, making it less travel focused and more project, story and community focused (the guides won’t stop, though).

Even more than last year, I’m holding back many of my favorite photos to prepare for the editing on future publications, as I want the future books to be at least a third never seen work. Still, with such a busy year of photography, walking an average of 15 miles/22km per day year-round, I have plenty to share now too. So, here’s a photo a city from the year to take you through all 33 cities I photographed in 2018. It’s not a favorite photo from each city, but some selections to share for now in bringing on 2019. And as always, all candid and unposed.

Happy New Year to all and Cheers to 2019!

– Forrest Walker