Kwaku Alston: Venice Project

The New York Times “Lens” section is featuring Venice resident and photographer Kwaku Alston and his “Venice Project” today! Alston, whose work was most recently seen in Venice at the Kana Manglapus Gallery on Abbot Kinney, has been working on his “Venice Project” for several years, a personal endeavor to balance out his “day job” in commercial photography.

Check out the “Venice Project” by clicking here. Alston’s wonderful “VolksLivin” project can be seen here (submissions are welcome) and his daily photo journal can be found here.

From the New York Times:

For some seven years now, Mr. Alston has been adding to his “Venice Project,” where he has made a point of getting out into his community. He talks about it with a sense of wonder and excitement — the kind of feelings familiar to anyone who ever became infatuated with photography.

Yet after years of commercial success, there was that creative thirst that went unquenched. He decided to take a page from the masters and made himself take a picture a day for no other client but himself. Much of that self-discovery has taken place in Venice, a small community that has been gentrifying rapidly in the decade since he moved there.

“The Venice community is a remarkable mix of people and cultures,” he said in an e-mail. “The gang member, the surfer, pot smoker, artist, hipster, young family member, indigent or trust funder, all living in these 2.3 square miles, creating something so unique.”

To continue reading the full article at the NYTimes website, click here!