Streethunters.net 2019 – There is nothing permanent except change

Introduction

Dear Readers,

If you are a regular on this website, you might have noticed that it has been a while since I have personally reached out to you with a blog post. Since the beginning of the new year, I have only published a few Camera bags, that you have so generously shared with us and some Throwback Tuesday posts. The last few months have been very busy for me. I have had my hands full at work and at the same time my personal life became more demanding. As a result, I had to sacrifice time from Streethunters.net. Fortunately things are now back to normal, and I am once again ready to pour my energy and my passion into Street Photography.

The purpose of today’s post

The purpose of today’s post is to make an important announcement and to share with you what to expect from the Streethunters.net website and its Social Media channels in 2019.

For the past 6 months the website’s posts have been at irregular intervals, some weeks sharing up to 5 or 6 posts and other weeks not sharing any. As a reader of other websites myself, I find that I like it when the frequency of posts is consistent. For this reason I strongly believe that Streethunters.net should also offer its content in a consistent manner. This is why, I have decided to stick to a weekly / monthly schedule of posts. But before we get to that, I would like to cut to the chase and make my announcement so that is out of the way. Then we can move onto the next steps in the Streethunters.net journey into Street Photography history.

Announcement

When I first came up with the idea of the Streethunters.net project in 2013, I thought it would be really cool to share the experience with others. I needed help to turn my vision into reality, so I decided to ask for it. I shared my idea with two other people. Andrew Sweigart and Rob Herron. I hadn’t met them in real life, but I knew them from an online photography community I used to run on GooglePlus. They both liked the idea, so just like that Streethunters.net was born in the summer of 2013. Rob dropped out shortly after the project started, then a few months later Casper Macindoe joined, then he left and Digby Fullam joined and so the 3 of us together managed to make Streethunters.net into one of the most definitive resources for Street Photography on the web. For more about the early history of Streethunters.net please click on the following two links:

• Street Hunter, Year One – Part 1
• Street Hunters, Year One – Part 2

During the past 6 years we all sacrificed a tremendous amount of our personal time in order to make the website into what it is today. Looking back I can’t believe that we have actually published more than 1000 posts and more than 60 videos on our YouTube channel.

The first milestone in the Streethunters.net history was when it was born in 2013. The second one was when Digby joined the team and now is the time for the 3rd milestone.

During 2018 all 3 of us noticed that our everyday lives became more demanding, meaning that more of our time had to be invested in things other than Streethunters.net. Family and career became our priorities. Streethunters.net is a non-profit project, a passion, a hobby, so it took a back seat. It was time for a change.

“There is nothing permanent except change”

-Heraclitus

Unfortunately  the change is that Andrew and Digby have resigned as editors of the website. I am now the sole Editor of Streethunters.net. Not having my mates to help me is going to be hard, at least at first. So dear Readers, I am asking for your support and understanding.  My ultimate goal is to keep delivering quality content to you and to do that I will need your help.

Please support Streethunters.net with your feedback

The way I see it, Streethunters.net is an open community for all Street Photographers around the world. It is a place where a street shooter can find helpful info about techniques, gear and other street photographers. This information has value. However, you can make the website’s content even better and more valuable, simply by sending me your feedback. Your support can come in the form of suggestions and recommendations for the website and its content, or in the form of volunteer guest blogging, or simply by sharing the love for Streethunters.net and keeping an open channel of communication with the website. With your support, I can provide for the street photography community for many more years.

Next steps – The importance of a consistent schedule

As I mentioned before, I think it is important that Streethunters.net maintains a consistent schedule in the way it shares its content. So from now on the plan is the following:

• Monday: Camera Bag (if available)
• Tuesday: Throwback Tuesdays (an old post reshared)
• Wednesday: Day off
• Thursday: Facebook group update (going through new submissions and change of cover photo)
• Friday: Flickr group update (going through new submissions)
• Every other Saturday: Featured street photograph
• Sunday: Day off
• Once a month: Interview of one of the winners of the previous contests
• Once a month: Photo slideshow of one of the winners of the previous contests
• Once a month: A featured blog post of a random street photography related subject.
• At random times: Street Photography related news as it happens.

You will notice that there are no more street photography contests. The reason for this is because I have a backlog of interviews and feature slideshow videos I need to get ready for all the winners of the Streethunters.net contests since October of 2017. So I want to write more than 15 interviews and prepare more than 15 video slideshows. There is no time for me to manage new street photography contests this year. I want to deliver what we promised to the winners of the contests. Even though interviewing others has never been my strong point, I am now the one that will be getting these interviews done. So I hope when the time comes, you will find them as interesting as the interviews done by Andrew in the past.

A few things about Social Media and Streethunters.net

Currently Streethunters.net has a presence in the following Social Media channels:

• GooglePlus Page
• Facebook Page
• Facebook Group
• Flickr Group
• Instagram
• YouTube
• Twitter

GooglePlus

In the next couple of months, GooglePlus will be shutting down so please do not follow us there any more. Even though I have a soft spot for G+ because that’s where it all started, the time for it to shut down has come and there is nothing we can do about it. The Streethunters.net GooglePlus page will automatically be discontinued along with the rest of the Social Media platform on the 2nd of April 2019.

Facebook Page

Our FB page will continue to post news and announcements. Everything that is published on our website is announced on the FB page instantly. If you are the type of person that likes to follow news but doesn’t have time for to many interactions, this is the place for you.

Facebook Group

I want to make some changes to the way the Streethunters.net group works. Up until now, it has been sort of an announcement board for everything posted on our website as well as a place for you all to share your photos. I think it is time things got a bit more interesting. So, I will be reviving some of the awesome things we did in GooglePlus in the early days, such as

• “Topics for discussion”,
• I will be allowing the sharing of interesting links as long as they are not just blatant self promotion and
• I will also be reviving print exchanges between members.

In addition,

• once a week I will be making a selection of new photos and
• I will be selecting a new cover image.

Curation is going to get stricter, because I would like to see us all try a bit more. I know we can all do much better.

Flickr Group

The Streethunters.net Flickr Group is one of the most heavily curated Street Photography groups on Flickr. I have been personally curating this group for many years and I have been strict. I only allow the best photos through and as a result the group has a wonderful selection of images. If you feel that you are up for it, make your submissions and see what happens. In addition to submitting photos, you can also participate in the group’s discussions. There are currently some very interesting conversations to participate in. Check them out.

Instagram

Each time the website posts something, I make a relevant Instagram post. Of course links don’t work in IG, but you can still stay up to date with what’s happening on the website. I am thinking of sharing some of the best images from the Streethunters.net flickr group once a month on Instagram. What do you think? Is this something you would like to see?

YouTube

I admit our YouTube channel doesn’t have enough videos yet, but more additions are being made monthly. Recording, processing and publishing videos is hard work, but I aim to upload one video a month to keep the channel fresh.

Twitter

Last but not least, Twitter acts as an announcement board for all things Street Hunters. So, if you are not that much into FB or IG but still want to follow the brand, then just follow us at @Street_Hunters.

Let me know what you think please!

If you feel like you want to contribute by providing feedback, ideas or blog posts, please feel free to reach out at the website email address at contact@streethunters.net. It will be an honour to receive all your feedback. I can’t wait, this is so exciting!

Stay Sharp & Keep Shooting!