Street Photography Tips, Interaction, Travel, Guides
I’m happy to share my photo series Limbo won First Place at the 2020 Italian Street Photo Festival. Below, is the winning series and I’m also in the works on making a zine of the full work connected to it. Thanks for looking and you can check out all the winners and finalists from the festival here:
https://2020.italianstreetphotofestival.com/winners-and-finalists-2020/?fbclid=IwAR0sAl4jjSTU-eOFBcveVOk_GUJSP3cD2qSGlHRlBIrI0dYuf0BkYKPla4A
Time for the New Year’s tradition here and share a few photos from the old year to bring in the new
While the past few years, especially 2017 and 2018, were non-stop on the road finishing up my Major City work, I had to focus on a variety of other work this year and didn’t move around as much. That was a good thing. Still, I managed to fit in a few last major cities, bringing that project’s 5 year total to 105 across 75 countries, while also completing some smaller projects. My 2019 brought me to 14 cities, including some extensive work in Odessa, Ukraine, which will hopefully be published by the end of 2020. I’ll be heavily focused on publishing a few pieces from all the work I’ve completed, including a couple of smaller zines, which I’m really excited about. After 5 years of obsessive non-stop work and over 30,000 km walked, I’m beyond ready to start putting this all together and published.
The new year will also bring more focus and changes to the blog, as I had to pull back time from it a bit this year due to work and some changes in vision for it. I’ll be starting a Patreon subscription too where I’ll be creating a variety of video content, lessons, mentorship and more.
I’m holding back most of my favorite photos from the year to prepare for editing on future publications, as I want them to be at least a third never seen work, but with another busy year of photography in the books, I have enough to share now too. So, here’s a couple photos from all 14 cities I worked in 2019. It’s not a favorite photo from each city, but some selections to share for now in bringing on 2020. And as always, all unstaged and unposed.
Happy New Year to all and Cheers to 2020!
– Forrest Walker
(in order of capture date) [Read more…]
For anyone who may be interested, but didn’t catch it, I was recently interviewed on The Candid Frame. Going strong for 10 years now, The Candid Frame is one of the best photography-related podcasts out there. Interviewed by the multi-talented Ibarionex Perello, they’ve featured in-depth conversations with photographers as well-known as Mary Ellen Mark, Joel Meyerowitz and, most recently, Jeff Mermelstein, while also focusing on emerging photographers. It was an honor and great experience finding time on the road to chat with Ibarionex and that’s what we talked about most, life on the road and my 100 major city project.
So, give it a listen if you’d like to hear more about myself and the project, and be sure to check out some of the other interviews from The Candid Frame, as well.
During the Miami Street Photography Festival, I gave a guest artist talk covering my 100 major cities project. After the talk, I found that many people who’d been following my project work or the blog never really knew the extent of the actual project. So, I thought I’d share some of the details from that project talk here to provide a better understanding of it all. While I refer to it as the 100 City project on the blog for ease of following along, the actual tentative title of the full project is “Big City, Small World.” It’s a 5 year, 7 day a week, always on the road project. So, it truly is my life right now. Here’s more info so you can see what really goes into it.
Start Date: June 2015 (3 years down, 2 to go)
Time: 5 Years (4 years of mostly non-stop photography on the road, 1 year to finish and put it all together)
Place: Over 100 major cities across most major regions of the world
What: Themes and observations connecting all life. Candid, daily life photographed in all parts of major cities, in all parts of the world.
Distance Covered (walked): On foot, I average over 20 kilometers per day year-round (including travel days). So, after 4 years, a rough estimate will be 30,000 kilometers walked in city streets around the world, camera in hand. (20,000 miles)
Above, is the slide from my talk and tracking for the last full month of working on the project. While 20mi/30km per day is a little higher than average, below is from the current month and shows a more average month of 15mi/22km per day. Over 50km walked in one day is still my record, though (in City #60 Seoul, South Korea).
For this project, I’m only focusing on major cities. A city qualifies if it meets one of the following three criteria (in order of importance to me):
If it meets more than one of those, even better, but I’m also trying to spread the cities out as much as I can to cover all major regions of the world.
Maybe the most common question I get, especially from non-photographers, is “Why major cities? Why not the more interesting and beautiful places?” In general, big cities seem to get a bad reputation and most people don’t understand why I’d choose to photograph them. Well, that’s part of the reason right there, but here are the many reasons I chose to focus on major cities:
I use “100 City Project” on the website as something easy for people to follow along. While photographing 100 major cities is a goal of the project, this only serves as the framework, or canvas, of the project. When finished, the actual book and focus will be more than that, with a title to match. While tentatively titled “Big City, Small World,” the title won’t be decided until the book is completed.
One important thing to me is that it doesn’t look or feel like travel photography. I’m traveling and photographing, but that’s not what my focus is on. It only serves as a way to cover the variety of life in big cities. I want candid, daily life. I want a street aesthetic mixed with a bit of documentary. I want my own style and interests to be seen and felt. I want the places and time to be present. I want authentic connections to be shown. And most importantly, I want it to convey my vision for the project. Travel photography is far from that vision.
I try to visit a variety of areas in each city to get a full scope of life. This means I venture many places that aren’t as safe and don’t see outside visitors. It can be an interesting experience seeing reactions to a foreigner outside of the more touristic areas, but most of the time things go really well. I want to photograph areas that aren’t as seen and many times these neighborhoods have a more authentic and unpolished feeling, which I’m attracted to. It does mean I have to be extremely alert, though, as I’m always out with my camera alone. Fortunately, during the day, there’s a lot you can do minimize risks, but things still do happen and I’ve luckily gotten myself out a number of bad situations. In some cities and regions of the world, most of the city ends up being unsafe, but these places are also less photographed because of it. So, I want to take that risk as an opportunity. And many times, as a bit of an adventure too.
I know many people think I’m living the dream, but while I am working towards that when it comes to goals, I’m far from living the dream when it comes to “fun” right now. Honestly, I don’t have time, or money, for much fun at all. It’s all about the project.
While I am traveling the world, I’m not traveling in the way people imagine. It’s all work and no play. I never do touristy things, make time to relax on the beach, or let myself be very social. I live by the lowest/cheapest means possible. Everything is focused on completing the project and working on this website.
During the day, I’m out hitting the streets, focused completely on photography and exploring a variety of the city life. During the night, I’m on the computer working. 8 hours on the streets, 8 hours on the computer, Sleep around 6 hours. Researching cities, writing posts (guides takes the longest), interviewing others (sometimes being interviewed myself), going through photos, answering emails and questions from readers, working on other parts of the blog, teaching workshops, making money where I can, and handling the many problems that come up from living on the road. It takes up my time more than any 9-5 job ever did. Alone on the road, moving somewhere new nearly every week with no time for anything else other than the project gets old. And depressing at times. The number of times I’ve wanted to quit is countless. But it’s all for a goal I started and something I believe in finishing. I don’t like to quit anything and when it comes to this, I haven’t given myself much choice now. I’ve put myself all in on this one.
Another common question is how am I able to do this project, especially when it comes to cost. Sacrifice is the main answer. I had to quit my career, leave my home, sell most of my belongings, and say goodbye to family, friends and relationships, losing many in the process. I had to give up any comforts and risk it all for something that has no guarantees. I also have to live by minimal means. I have few belongings and rarely buy anything other than basic food. At best, I stay in hostels. At times, I may sleep in a tent outside in Port-au-prince, Haiti or a public bathroom in Berlin, Germany (not proud of that last one :) ). Even then, I’ve gone from very comfortable to very broke. Make no mistakes, I won’t be making any posts about how to get rich off photography anytime soon.
Physical:
Mental:
Will I have any side projects during this time?
Yes. The largest side project I have going is titled “Oddyssey” (Yes, it’s spelled with two “d’s” on purpose). I’m often attracted to the strange when it comes to photography and “Oddyssey” will showcase the many odd scenes I see around the world during my travels. I plan on printing a zine/paperback book for the first volume this summer.
I also have other smaller, ongoing series, including “Cell” and “Havana Colors,” which you can find on my personal website. With all the photos I take, more series will likely be realized in the future too.
While the outline of the project is photographing 100 major cities across all major regions, the content and substance will be more than that. This won’t be a travel photography book showcasing photos from each city. I will try to include photos from most cities and show the range of life the scope of the project provided, but following a themed approach and story will be what the final book will be most focused on.
When starting this project, I wanted to find common connections found in all people, places, life and cultures. The things that make us all human, no matter the environment and background. Daily life is where you see these basic connections the most so that’s where I wanted to look for it all. Over time, I noticed certain things everywhere I photographed life. Of course, some common connections can come from my personal vision and interests, but overall I feel there are certain basics you see everywhere among people. Within these common connection themes, I also want there to be a connected story. The book will be divided into chapters covering these observation themes and stories.
Now, that I’m over two-thirds of the way into shooting this project, my common themes of life are mostly locked in, but there still could always be some change and I might narrow/combine them down to five. Here’s where they’re currently at, though:
Themes & Observations of Daily Life:
So, there you have it, a little more info behind this long-term project. It’s been a roller coaster, but I hope to be finished by early 2019. With 30 more major cities to go, be sure to click the full map below to see where I’ve photographed and what’s coming. As far as the blog and photography goes, most work is yet to come out too. So, stay tuned for a whole lot more here.
Time for the New Year’s tradition here and share some photos from the old year to bring in the new.
While 2016 had been my busiest year yet on the road working on my 100 cities project, 2017 was even busier. I was on the road non-stop, clocking in at over 5,000 miles walked while covering 33 cities, including 26 major cities for the project. I started in city #41 Quito, Ecuador and finished in #66 Mexico City, Mexico, leaving 34 major cities left to do. I’m attempting to make 2018 even busier so I can get most of it finished before I start working on the book in 2019.
While focusing on the project, I was still able to make it to a few street photography festivals this year, including the London SP Festival as a judge and the Miami SP Festival as a guest artist speaker, which were great experiences. In addition, I led some successful workshops in London, Budapest and Havana, and plan on doing more in 2018. All in all, it was an extremely busy year with its share of downs and setbacks, but it’s only made me more determined to make this all work. The blog had a busy year growing too, as it’s now ranked #2 in the world in the street photography genre on feedspot. I have more plans for the blog this year, which I’ll share soon, but for now, thank you to everyone that’s been following along!
One thing I did decide this year was not to share all of my favorite photos yet, as I want the future book to be at least a third never seen work. Still, with such a busy year of street photography, walking an average of 15 miles/22km per day year-round, I have more than enough to share now too. So, here’s 50 photos from the year that take you through all 33 cities I photographed in 2017. It’s not a top 50 of my favorites, but some selections to share for now in bringing on 2018. So, I hope you enjoy.
Happy New Year to all and Cheers to 2018!
– Forrest
(in order of capture date) [Read more…]
While working on my 100 City Project in City #43: Havana, Cuba, I decided to also make a small side series inspired by the variety of colors this city surrounds you with. There’s so much to love about shooting in Havana, and for me, color is definitely one of them. While much of my work focuses more on people and life, while using color to complete it, I wanted this series to put more of the focus on the colors, while using life to complete it.
So here’s my short series, Havana Colors. Hope you enjoy and stay tuned for more work and posts on Cuba’s capital, a favorite of mine for street photography (Details on an upcoming November Workshop in Havana).
Comments are always appreciated and if Havana is on your list for photography (it should be), I’m excited to announce a week long workshop in Havana this November!
If I was to pick my favorite city I visited this year for photography, it might be Saint-Petersburg, Russia. While maybe surprising to some with all the cities I visited in 2016, most of those surprised probably haven’t been. Saint-Petersburg is a special city unlike any other.
It was actually my second time in the city, but my first time visiting during the summer. And if you’re planning on visiting, the time of the year makes a big difference. With its location so high north, the length of the days range greatly depending on the month. So not only is the weather much better during the summer, the daylight also lasts 20+ hours. On top of that, the city really comes alive once June hits.
Saint-Petersburg was originally built on 101 islands. After some engineering in the early 20th century, it was reduced down to 42 islands connected to each other by bridges and canals. This is a big part of what gives the city such a beautiful, interesting and unique atmosphere.
Zayachy Island, also known as “Hare Island,” is a very small island in the center of Saint-Petersburg connected by two pedestrian bridges. In 1703, Peter the Great began construction of the Peter and Paul fortress here, which is a big tourist draw today. The grass, sand and stone surrounding the fortress is also a popular spot for the locals, especially in the summer. They come to lay out in the sun, take a dip in the water and enjoy the city view by the river.
The large grass area fills up with activity, but the most interesting spot is around the fortress where you’ll find a more secluded area with a large fort wall and stone shore. Since the wall faces the sun, it heats up and becomes a warm spot for locals to lay against in relaxation. Combined with the mix of characters it attracts, it can create a very interesting, slightly surreal scene. I found it so unique that I came back here multiple times during my visit to Saint-Petersburg.
Here’s a short series of photos I made while experiencing some of Saint-Petersburg’s summer heat on Hare Island.
One of the main reasons for all my travel is my “100 Cities” book I’m currently working on. This is my main personal project and I hope to complete it in 2-3 years. I have around a quarter finished now and should be about half way done by the end of 2016.
It’s only tentatively titled, but just like the name says, the final book will contain photos from one hundred cities. There is more to it than that, though, so since this project is such a big part of the blog, I thought I’d give you all some details behind it.
The final book will include photos from 100 cities spanning 6 continents. I’m focusing on spreading the cities out as much as I can to give a range of countries, cultures, life and scenery. I’m also focusing mostly on the bigger and more well known cities in different countries, but I will try to mix in a few smaller cities.
I’ll visit and photograph more than 100 cities to be safe, but depending on the photos and curation, some won’t make the final cut. Some cities will have more than one photo that make it into the book too, as I plan on including around 150 photos.
Life in color. I’m focusing on color for this book so there will be no black & white. I’m looking for color to be an important aspect visually. I have a different view on “color vs black & white” photography than some photographers. For me, color contains more life. To quote the famous street photographer Joel Meyerowitz:
“A color photograph gives you a chance to study and remember how things look and feel in color. It enables you to have feelings along the full wavelength of the spectrum, to retrieve emotions that were perhaps bred in you from infancy… Color is always part of experience. Grass is green, not gray; flesh is color, not gray. Black and white is a very cultivated response.”
Another reason I chose color is that I feel it captures a specific time better. In my opinion, black & white can have a nostalgic, older feeling it adds, while removing many aspects of the time, while color adds and reflects the time. I do appreciate black & white photography, and it has its own strengths, but I just don’t feel it adds to this project like color can.
I’m spreading out the cities across 6 continents and many countries so I can show a wide variety of life around the world. Travel provides a look at so many different cultures with their own history, customs, scenery, and life. It’s fascinating to see how different we all are and live.
At the same time, it can also be fascinating to see some of the similarities we all, as humans, share, even in the most different of environments. I hope to capture some of this too within the variety of cities.
Photography can capture a people, time and place all in one split second click of the shutter. For me, this might be the most powerful thing about photography. When looking at older photos, you can see a time and place that is no longer possible to see in real life. Documenting the world we live in during times that have passed is so interesting and important to me that I hope I can capture some of that in this project.
Sometimes, ordinary life can be extraordinary. This usually goes unseen and passes without a thought, though. Finding and capturing these moments and scenes within day-to-day life is a big focus of the project. Capturing them candidly is another focus. Authentic moments can never be duplicated exactly and I want that to show in the book.
At the center of all the photos will be humanity. This will be the primary focus of each photo, but there won’t be a focus on pulling emotional strings. The focus will be on capturing humanity authentically in daily life and letting the viewer pull what they want from it. I will try to show this using a mix of both humanity “up close and personal” and in layered scenes. There won’t be any portraits, though, as candidness will be central to the capturing of humanity.
There will be more to the project than this, but hopefully this gives everyone a good idea of what’s going on with it. The whole time working on the project, I’ll continue writing plenty of photography related posts for each city I go too, including first impressions, street photos, street photography tips, interviews with local street photographers, and in-depth Street Photography guides for most of the cities. And if there’s any requests for new posts that might be helpful while I’m working on this project, just comment below!
I’ve created a page listing where I’ll add each I city I visit, in order, with the most recent number being the city I am currently in. I’ll include any upcoming and planned cities too. So you can always check back to see where I’m at, where I’ve been, and what cities are next.
I’ll also include city links to provide an easy way for finding blog posts I’ve already created for the specific cities I’ve traveled to.
And if you have any questions or city recommendations, feel free to comment below!
Cheers!
f.d. walker
Thinking of photography in the context of a series or project can be a great way to improve. It gives you a theme and vision to focus on, and then teaches you how to bring that vision to reality.
Afterwards, when you’re out shooting photography without any project in mind, it still helps you learn to be more effective in capturing your personal vision with each shot.
A serious project should take years, not days, but you don’t have to let that intimidate you. Working on smaller, easier projects can be valuable too.
I recently finished a smaller photo project in Istanbul and thought I’d share a more detailed look behind making a photo project like this. The project, titled “Taksim Skies,” wasn’t a large, complex or highly involved project. It wasn’t covering some serious topic or made for deep meaning. It was more of a smaller scale, artistic photo project, while being somewhat experimental and lighthearted. Hopefully describing each aspect of the project can help you see what goes into making a small photo project like this, while also telling you more about the project itself.
While living in Istanbul, Turkey, I stayed just a five minute walk from Taksim Square. If you’ve ever been to Istanbul, you know Taksim Square is at the center of the city, and always full of life. The largest metro station is here, the busiest pedestrian street starts here, Gezi Park is here, and the famous Republic Monument is here. This is also the place for big events, protests and political rallies. So you get a constant chaos of locals, tourists, commuters, street sellers, and political activists. Even on a slow day.
A day didn’t go by where I didn’t have to walk through Taksim Square. I always had my camera with me and spent plenty of time photographing this active spot too. But with people constantly moving in all directions, you get messy, crowded backgrounds where ever you look. So you’re forced to attempt to organize the chaos when shooting Street Photography here. I’m not a fan of messy streets of people walking in every direction because most photos end up looking the same. A person walking in front of other people walking.
So since I had to walk through this square every day, I decided to start a small photo project attempting to capture these people in solitude. I came up with the idea to use the sky as their backdrop and to take a few photos a day, over the summer, and see if anything could come out of it.
