London Photowalk: A Success
14 "Strangers" Converge to Document East London
Photo Courtesy of Jason Fredin
This past Sunday found 14 “total strangers” meeting at an East London coffee house in anticipation of an eventful day. Converging on the streets of a historical London community these 14 photographers took 2 hours out of their day to walk, talk and photograph this unique area of town.
Drawing a number of questions, comments and inquiries from the locals of the area, these 14 photographers were always happy to answer the question of “Why?” with “Why Not?”. Having the opportunity to get “out of the house”, meet new people and explore the city I call home is always good enough reason for me to take a photo. The presence of the photographers themselves in the area was definitely topic of discussion for many who live near by.
Shooting subjects of the day ranged everything from gutted cars, bricks, mannequins to the photographers themselves. Some photographers chose to shoot only in HDR while others took the time and care to stage shots, many of us walked along shooting while we talked.
These photographs were linked together by conversations that spanned a good portion of Dundas street, talk to chat amongst each other, learn a little bit about the history in the are and what changes are anticipated in the future. Since in the near future East London is slated to go through a number of changes many of us felt it be appropriate that we take the time to document and experience this area of town before any changes occur.
With the exception of a couple of overlooked details (meeting place, ending time and perhaps a “formal agenda”) I personally believe that this day was a complete success. Far more people showed up than I thought would and I had the opportunity to put some handshakes to faces while at the same time getting introduced to others in the community. I regret not having the opportunity to talk in depth to each and every person, however, if this were to happen again I am sure more conversations would arise.
The day has been documented through pictures (fitting, isn’t it?) which can be found all over Flickr. Tagged with “lopw” and collected into an “Official” London PhotoWalk Group these pictures exist for the community to enjoy (and in some cases use with CC) and to spark conversation. ((As a side note: the City of London has started a Flickr group that some of the local photographers might find use for to also share their photos in.)) Perhaps in the future if things take off a website might appear dedicated to this, but we will have to wait and see.
So from here where do we go? Do people want to do it again, and if so when, where, how often? Lets keep the chatter going as I know there are other people interested that were unable to make it out this time.
© Fowler Media
Congrats on your first Photowalk !
I hope you found some interesting images and as well the opportunity to meet others in your community with photographic interests .
Its a great way to see your City and learn more it .
John Piercy
http://hamiltonflickrgroup.com/
Congratulations!! I just hosted my first photowalk as well. Looks like yours was just as successful. I’ll be in the U.K. this summer and hope I’m lucky to find a good walk while I’m here.
Our group can be found here http://photowalkla.blogspot.com/ and there are links to our flickr group there too.
Here’s hoping there are many more photowalks to come!
Julia
Hi there,
I stumbled across this by chance & I’m sorry I missed the first meet up. I’d been trying to get a photowalk together in the past but couldn’t drum up enough interest. I’d love to hear about the next one, if you wouldn’t mind letting me know.
Cheers!
In case you missed it, there’s an automatically-generated section below the post which includes Related Articles. In this case it worked well, because it provides links to all 3 of the previous London PhotoWalk articles. Keep an eye on this site’s Events Calendar in the sidebar for the next one.
Kevin: I haven’t had time yet to look into the Flikr ‘groups’ to figure out how to link the #lopw in my account to the group that you created. Or do I have to choose some and upload them to the London Photowalk Group separately?
Kathryn:
As Greg said, keep and eye (and ear) posted here on From My Bottom Step. Also you might want to watch Twitter for any buzz about the events. Check Here and Here for information in the future regarding a photowalk. Would great to have you out in the future.
Greg.
If you are a member of the group (which I believe you are) all you have to do is add the photos to the group. You can do this through the Group page or through the Organizer when you are logged in.
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