The 4amproject

Karen Strunks nominated the 4amproject.

The aim of the 4amproject is to capture a view of the world at the magical time of 4am.

Although its roots lie in Birmingham, the project is a worldwide community experience and aims to capture a time of day that many people rarely see. Building on the ever growing phenomenon of social media, the 4am Project is an exercise in global solidarity to encourage the sharing of visual imagery that reflects the world we live in.

The idea was born out of my ‘Birmingham At 4am’ project, where I have been going out at 4am to take pictures of the city. I wanted to share this experience and get other people involved.

I knew it would be a big task to get the word out worldwide and that social media tools would play a huge part in this. The social media tools I have utilized are a website, flickr, a blog. By doing this I have taken an online idea and made it into a shared offline event. By using these online tools the project is an ongoing success.

4am Project participants have been using social media to make contact with other photographers in their area and have arranged their own 4am photo walks.

Since the 4am Project began in April 2009, over 4000 photographs have been submitted by participants from over 40 countries, including Singapore, China, Australia, Ireland, Hungary, Philippines, & South Korea to name just a few.

I have received so much great feedback about the project. From people saying that they enjoyed experiencing theirs streets at a different time, to others saying it has helped them learn more about their cameras. Some said it has helped them embrace photography again.

Others enjoy the global collaboration and also like the opportunity to meet and connect with other photographers. The beauty of the project is that anyone can take part. All they need is a camera. And a willingness to get up a 4am! It’s a simple idea that has spread like wild fire and is capturing peoples imaginations worldwide

http://www.4amproject.org

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