I was asked to present a program on street photography this past weekend for the Professional Photographers of Colorado’s Elevate 2024 Photography Conference, which was held at an Embassy Suites hotel in downtown Denver. I love to teach and be a part of photography conferences like this, so of course I said yes! I started... Continue Reading →

Every time I go out to make Street Portraits, I tell the folks I photograph that they will be able to find their photograph at the top of the gallery that evening. They get a place at the top. Then, when I make more photos, they move down in the gallery and sometimes I bump... Continue Reading →

For all these street portraits I’ve been making, I’ve created a Facebook group called Joyful People – American Street Portraits to share them on a daily basis. I’ve been making street portraits with a Rolleiflex 3.5F and Ilford HP5 black and white film and people have told me they make them smile. That they inspire... Continue Reading →

I am quite comfortable going up to people to make the street portraits I’ve been making the last several months. The Rolleiflex camera in one hand and a 4×6 print that has 8 photos on it is almost always a sure win. Just approach anyone and say, “Hi, I use this vintage film camera to... Continue Reading →

What happens when Apple and other phone manufacturers program into their camera phones AI and computational processing to make every photo look the way the masses most want them to look? Because that’s what they’re doing. I was listening to a podcast, Antonio M. Rosario and Ward Rosin’s Street Shots, which I enjoy and they... Continue Reading →

I went to the cinema to see Lee, the Lee Miller biopic film with Kate Winslet that opened today. It wasn’t just to see her Rolleiflex, though that was certainly a draw. I really like Kate Winslet as an actor. She seems like she’s stepping into the shoes of Meryl Street with her ability to... Continue Reading →

I want to be able to print photographs in my tiny bathroom darkroom, but I want to be able to stop and start and still have use of the bathroom. So, I got a couple of covered plastic bins and made it so they fit under the sink so I don’t have to toss the... Continue Reading →

I didn’t choose to photograph this. The image appeared in front of me and the photo was made. I had no choice. Do you believe in the muse taking you away? As a fiction writer, I’ve started scenes for characters with an intention of what I want to happen but as I’m writing they don’t... Continue Reading →

I am leading a street photography workshop today and put together a few notes to share with the students and thought I’d share them with you as well. What is street photography? It’s documentary photography of life in public, whether in a city, a town, a beach, a park, business or school campus, or any... Continue Reading →

There was a Home on the Grange shindig out at the Altona Grange in Longmont this past Sunday, so I went out to see who I might find for my photography project which now has a name: American Street Portriats–Faces of Our Time. I hope to make it into a book, I just need to... Continue Reading →

Sometimes we’re not where we are meant to be. Sometimes, we have to find where we belong. After going to two different locations in Boulder (a Greek Festival and the always popular Pearl Street Mall) and not making any Street Portraits–I wasn’t finding anyone or the ones I asked said no thanks–I was driving on... Continue Reading →

Well, Labor Day found me in Lyons and Berthoud Colorado, two towns outside of Boulder. Which makes this the last post of the summer. Each set is a new group of amazing people I’ve met and added to my gallery collection. I hope you’ve enjoyed meeting them as much as I have. Here’s to a... Continue Reading →

I went back out today. As a photographer, I’m of the mind that there is nothing but the work. Just get to work. When we get to work, we make things. When we don’t, we don’t. So, it doesn’t take much to get me back out to downtown Boulder for more Street Portraits. I know... Continue Reading →

Hey, Monday is a holiday in the U.S., Labor Day. (Which is also the unofficial end of summer!) So, to celebrate the weekend, I made street portraits on two rolls of film. Let’s go crazy! Here I give you the beautiful faces I met, the folks I made portraits for, all down on the Boulder... Continue Reading →

…becomes an ongoing project. I am enjoying making these portraits so much that I know I won’t be able to wrap up at the end of summer even though that would be convenient to say, “There, all done!” [Claps Hands Together} It’s not in my nature to want to stop. I’m not looking to be... Continue Reading →

We had a good opening reception for the Views from the Street Show at the Colorado Photographic Arts Center in Denver Friday night. (It’s up until 10/5.) I was inspired to get to downtown Boulder and make more Sunday afternoon. Such great energy with the folks I meet and these impromptu street portrait sessions. Rolleiflex 3.5F & Ilford... Continue Reading →

I was recently on the east coast working a commercial photography job in Brooklyn and added a bit of time to my travels to visit family and friends in New Jersey. While there, of course I had brought the Rolleiflex with the hope of making street portraits. And so, I did. I brought the Rolleiflex... Continue Reading →

People often say my photograph have an authenticity to them, which I appreciate that compliment. What I find I do is I look for those moments which aren’t perfect, and press the shutter then. For example, this photo I asked them not to smile for me, but to just be themselves. This is what happened... Continue Reading →

I was out walking the streets of New York City making, what else, street photographs and thought about how I look for characters to see what they are doing, hoping to find someone interesting and I photograph them to tell their story. I’m a longtime photojournalist so my interest is in documenting people stories. But... Continue Reading →

I look around at my friends sitting with me in their living room, and the folks at the local coffee shop and everybody is either staring at a phone or a laptop, including me. And I think about how it looks like an addiction. Like we are all trapped by these devices that constantly send... Continue Reading →

With that art fair happening downtown, the crowds were out and it was easier than ever to find subjects to approach for street portraits. Of course I had to go back out, though I ended up going twice. Once around noon, and it was rainy in Boulder, so I left and returned at 5:00pm when... Continue Reading →

Here are some things I’ve noticed when I go out to make street portraits with a Rolleiflex camera. My approach is always the same–I hold up the camera and my phone opened to my Rolleiflexers gallery and say, “Hi, I make portraits with this vintage camera and they look like this. May I make your... Continue Reading →

Here are the latest cast of characters in my Street Portraits project from a visit to Lyons Colorado on a sweltering summer Sunday afternoon. [Rolleiflex 3.5F, Ilford HP5] The question is, “Where will my camera take me next? And who will I meet?”

When I delivered framed photographs last week to people who I had photographed for my Street Portraits project, one thanked me while holding the photograph and said, “This is special.” I wonder what has changed since 2000 when digital cameras really took off (they had been around since 1995). And then again in 2007 when... Continue Reading →

It was a warm Saturday evening in downtown Boulder with the Rolleiflex and one roll of 120 film to say some hellos, meet some beautiful faces and make some new Street Portraits. Here’s who I found out in the good light. [Rolleiflex 3.5F & Ilford HP5.] Now, it’s a constant question I ask myself: Who... Continue Reading →

A note to remind you to print your photographs. Unprinted, they’re just files. Or negatives. Or slides. Potentials. These folks requested prints from my Rolleiflex street portrait gallery [Rolleiflexers.com/kenneth-wajda]–I offer a print at no cost to everyone I photograph–and it’s a treat to live with portraits of family and friends in our homes as part... Continue Reading →

Hopefully you are enjoying seeing all the new ‘friends’ I’m meeting on the street. Each day, when I go out with the camera and a single roll of film, I have the same thought: “I wonder who I will meet today.” Here are the beautiful faces I was able to photograph today. Rolleiflex 3.5F, Ilford... Continue Reading →

The muse exists but she has to find you working. This is testament to that. When I arrived at North Boulder’s First Friday Art Walk at 5:30p.m., I realized it didn’t start until 6:00pm. Oh, well, I’d wait for a bit but thought this might be a bust since, as I was walking around the... Continue Reading →

I was headed to an ASMP (American Society of Media Photographers) gathering last week in the Sunnyside neighborhood of Denver, and since it sits so close to the Highlands, I went early to 32nd and Lowell looking for some Street Portraits. It’s always good to have a fresh new destination to work in. Had some... Continue Reading →

Some photographic projects we come up with, and others just take us. This Street Portraits project with a Rolleiflex is one that has taken me. Every time I go out with a single roll of film, and each time at the start I am unsure I’ll find enough people to finish the twelve frames, but... Continue Reading →