In 2015, Czech photographer David Gaberle walked over 3,600 kilometres through some of the world’s most populated areas, photographing people in cities such as New York, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Lond on and Seoul. As his successful Kickstarter campaign for a now published photobook Metropolight claims, the mission was to “examine the human condition of the 21st century metropolis”
When David Gaberle picked up a camera about 5 years ago, he suffered from being overwhelmed by the busyness of cities. The camera played a therapeutic role in distracting him from the informational overload and, over time, became a research tool he started using to better understand himself and the surrounding world.
“Despite how physically close to each other people in large cities work, commute and live together, the general attitude among its populations has increasingly been one of hesitation and reluctance. I believe this is because cities alienate people,” says David. “The modern city needs to be a functional and well-organized space. At its core, it is rooted in reason and factual knowledge. As an effect, the emotional concerns of people living in cities are often pushed aside and deemed as distractive to the smooth functioning of the city.”
There are 35 photographs in the book, carefully selected from tens of thousands of photos. David’s photographs are recognizable in their specific use of color and light, combined with precise composition and a strong emotional charge that accompanies the lonely people in his photographs.
He hopes to capture a particular aspect of living in large cities, exploring “what the city molds us into, and how we try to remain authentic to ourselves at the same time”.
You can discover more about David’s book through the captivating Kickstarter video.
You can find David Gaberle on the Web:
Copyrights:
All the pictures in this post are copyrighted David Gaberle. Their reproduction, even in part, is forbidden without the explicit approval of the rightful owners.
