Street Photography Tips, Interaction, Travel, Guides
*A series of guides on shooting Street Photography in cities around the world. Find the best spots to shoot, things to capture, street walks, street tips, safety concerns, and more for cities around the world. I have personally researched, explored and shot Street Photography in every city that I create a guide for. So you can be ready to capture the streets as soon as you step outside with your camera!
After San Juan and teaching a workshop in London, it was back to the 100 City project with a 12 hour direct flight down to city #46 Cape Town, South Africa. This had been a city I’d wanted to explore for many years and it didn’t disappoint. Unfortunately, a large wave put a damper (pun intended) on part of my time here, as it crashed against a wall and my lens, ruining it. While I had to wait until Johannesburg to find a replacement, I did try a 14mm(21mm equiv.) for the first time here, which can be seen in some of these photos (see if you can spot them). While it was too wide for my taste and I returned it, it was fun to try out. Cape Town’s mix of urban city and edge with beautiful beaches and landscape was a great place to try it out too.
So here’s 33 photos that I was able to capture during my time in Cape Town…
After teaching a workshop in London with Dmitry Stepanenko, it was back to the project with a city that had been on my list for a long time. So, for City #50 during my 100 City Project I took the longest direct flight in my life down to Cape Town, South Africa.
Situated in one of the most picturesque spots you’ll find anywhere for a city its size, there’s no denying Cape Town is a good-looking city. Nicknamed the “Mother City,” sitting below Table Mountain next to endless beaches, you’ll also find one of the most multi-cultural cities in the world. With all of its natural beauty, it’s not surprising there’s a very outdoorsy feeling here. Mix all that with its urban atmosphere, history and mix of cultures, it makes for one of the more unique cities yet during my project. Cape Town has a lot to love about it, all with some beautiful light and stunning backgrounds that make it a great city for some street photography too.
So, here are my first impressions of Cape Town, from my personal Street Photographer perspective…
*A series of guides on shooting Street Photography in cities around the world. Find the best spots to shoot, things to capture, street walks, street tips, safety concerns, and more for cities around the world. I have personally researched, explored and shot Street Photography in every city that I create a guide for. So you can be ready to capture the streets as soon as you step outside with your camera!
After Barranquilla, came city #45 San Juan, Puerto Rico on the 100 City project. Due to some money-saving flight scheduling on my way to London for a workshop, San Juan became an unexpected addition. My time here came before Hurricane Maria, but weather conditions still kept me inside much of the time. So, while I didn’t get as much photography in as normal during the project, I still made sure to get as much shooting in as possible.
So here’s 22 photos that I was able to capture during my time in San Juan…
*My time in San Juan came before Hurricane Maria. All impressions are based on the city before the hurricane’s devastation to the city, which still hasn’t recovered. I’m a bit cautious of providing links to help because of the questionable corruption and some suspicious refusals of help coming from there, but here’s one link that includes 12 Effective Ways to Donate Money for you to choose from, if you would like to help.
City #49 San Juan had never been on my list to visit on the 100 City Project, but due to a money-saving flight opportunity on the way to London to teach a workshop, I chose to explore, photograph and learn more about this popular Caribbean destination. San Juan is an urban city, so it’s not like most other island destinations, but it has its fair share of beaches and tourist attractions too. Being the second oldest European-founded settlement in the Americas, there’s a lot of history here. You can see the colonial influence within the walls, but outside there’s a much different city that many visitors never venture. There’s a raw energy felt in San Juan, but its heavy tourist and USA influence takes away some of its authenticity and interest, in my opinion. Still, there’s a mix of latin, colonial, american, caribbean and urban city character all in one. Not every city contains a blend like that. Flights are cheap here too.
So here are my first impressions of San Juan, from my personal Street Photographer perspective…
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.
*A series of guides on shooting Street Photography in cities around the world. Find the best spots to shoot, things to capture, street walks, street tips, safety concerns, and more for cities around the world. I have personally researched, explored and shot Street Photography in every city that I create a guide for. So you can be ready to capture the streets as soon as you step outside with your camera!
After Medellin, my last stop in Colombia was city #43 Barranquilla on the 100 City project. While Barranquilla is one of Colombia’s largest cities, it’s most known for its Carnaval celebration. South America’s 2nd biggest Carnaval happens here, while providing a very different scene compared to the continent’s biggest in Rio de Janeiro. While not as crowded and elaborate, you get a more intimate Carnaval experience in a package that’s still bigger than every city outside of Rio. Barranquilla’s local, yet welcoming and crazy Carnaval experience is one you won’t find anywhere else.
So here’s 33 photos that I was able to capture during my time in Barranquilla…
*A series of guides on shooting Street Photography in cities around the world. Find the best spots to shoot, things to capture, street walks, street tips, safety concerns, and more for cities around the world. I have personally researched, explored and shot Street Photography in every city that I create a guide for. So you can be ready to capture the streets as soon as you step outside with your camera!
