Wanderlust: Photography's Improvisational Relationship with Walking - Summer 2026

JUL 15 | Online 6-9pm (Pacific Time)
JUL 18 | On Location 5-9pm along Alki Beach in Seattle, WA
JUL 22 | Online 6-8pm (Pacific Time)

Join PCNW for a lively workshop focused on photography's historical, contemporary, and conceptual relationship to "the walk." Our first online session will introduce ideas and examples of the walk as an essential generative tool for your photographic practice. Technique, appropriate gear choices, compositional tips, as well as examples from photography's rich walking history will inform our conversation. We will then meet in person for a semi-guided walk through the bustling urban stretch of Alki Beach during the summer evening golden light. Our final online session will be an opportunity to share and discuss the work we created during our time together.

During the workshop, we will discuss:

• Historical and contemporary examples of photographers who "walk."
• The basics of composition and various aesthetic approaches.
• Gear: A "one camera, one lens" set up for walking (and pros and cons of different combinations; long lens vs wide, digital vs. film, square vs 3:2, etc.)
• Technique/Camera settings to maximize your successes while shooting hand held.
• "Editing", both in a post-processing sense and a selection/sequencing one.
• "Talking to Strangers", or, various approaches to making portraits in public.
• The walk as meditation.
• The walk as improvisation/game of chance.
• Looking for light, color, and humor.

Images © Josh Poehlein