Bizarre or trending subjects? Catch a break with our curiosity of the week. Photographer and director Derek Beck has created Walk_, an immersive project, blending together photography and sound recordings.
Texas-based photographer and director Derek Beck discovered the media during his teenage years. “It was my older brother who introduced me to street photography. We went on a road trip from Texas to New York and along the way, he was documenting rural parts of America”, he remembers. Soon after, Derek Beck bought a camera on Craigslist, and started capturing his friends and family. His spontaneous approach has not changed since. “My way of photographing is fairly straightforward. Point and shoot. Don’t overthink the moment”, the artist tells us.
This is by following his instinct that the photographer got the idea of Walk_, an audiovisual series, combining street photography with atmospheric recordings. “The basic concept is to shoot one roll of 35mm film and record audio while walking a random path through a city”, he says.
To breathe life into a still image
Influenced by his experience as a film director, Derek Beck turned Walk_ into a hybrid project, between photography and “urban music”. “One of my favorite things about filmmaking is sound design. I’ve always loved building soundscapes and I think that has influenced this series in a big way. It’s still fascinating to me how simple ambient audio can breathe life into a still image”, Derek tells us. By simultaneously producing the image and the sound, the photographer has built an immersive universe, transporting the viewer at the heart of the cities he discovers. An exciting and ongoing project: “I recently received a grant from the Houston Art Alliance to continue the series. Next, I’ll be travelling through parts of Mexico and Texas”, he says. A sensorial and unique travel notebook, the photographer shares on an interactive website.
© Derek Beck
