Last weekend saw the online and offline worlds come together under the most utopian of circumstances, in the shape of the Global EyeEm Adventure. Indeed, on November 1st, the mobile photo app - which I’m sure you’ll recall me bigging up a bunch of times before - challenged their burgeoning band of followers to capture the most photogenic spots across the globe, meet-up style. Having been a keen advocate of EyeEm's vision since hitting upon the startup in Berlin this year, it was with open arms that I accepted their kind request to host the London leg of the worldwide event.
Photography lovin' folk were beckoned to connect out of life 2.0 and meet a likeminded line-up of lovely people in our respective cities, from Tel Aviv, to New York, to Kuala Lumpur. Together, these relaxed independent affairs amounted to an impressive large-scale effort, with designated EyeEm albums offering an insight into the event's international engagement.
For the London edition, I decided - after quite the deliberation - upon the city's multifaceted East End. An obvious choice, ya might surmise, but there is so much more to the Shoreditch area than the hipster stereotype it's become synonymous with. As we determined during the course of my lil route (which lasted about 2.5 hours), the E1 ends are an absolute melting pot of characters, cultures and curiosities. And, within a somewhat limited timescale, I felt it an ideal patch to shoot a decent dose of diverse images; there's a pretty high concentration of marvels in a not-too-vast space.
After convening outside the overground station, I gave my camera-bearing crew a petite briefing, and armed them with stickers to spread some EyeEm love on our travels. The group was made up of totally distinct characters, from all walks of life, bridged through a mutual appreciation of photography and a fancy to capture some of London's most photogenic facets. This diversity also lent a freshness to the end results, with identical scenarios captured in totally idiosyncratic styles. Throughout the afternoon, we grew to be an endearing unconventional family, content and creatively elevated in each other's company. See: the virtual and the real ain't so antithetical after all.
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