Karen Strunks Professional Birmingham-based Freelance Photographer

4am Project on the Danny Kelly Show – BBC WM

I was invited onto the Danny Kelly Show at BBC WM yesterday to talk about the 4am Project and the Birmingham Photo Walk & Picnic. You can listen to the interview here

The 4am Project needs YOUR vote!

UPDATE: The 4am Project didn’t win the award, but a big thank you to everybody who voted and supported the project during the awards. It is very much appreciated everybody, and there is always next year!

I have entered the 4am Project into the Digital Press Awards and voting is now open!

I would really appreciate your support and your vote for the 4am Project.

Visit the Digital Press Awards here - the voting area is on the bottom right hand corner.

Here is what I submitted to the awards:

I wish to nominate my global photography project: 4am Project.

The aim of the 4amproject is to gather a collection of photos from around the world at the magical time of 4am.

Although it’s roots lie in Birmingham, the project is a worldwide community experience and aims to capture a time of day that many people rarely see. Building on the ever growing phenomenon of social media, the 4am Project is an exercise in global solidarity to encourage the sharing of visual imagery that reflects the world we live in.

The idea was born out of my ‘Birmingham At 4am’ project, where I have been going out at 4am to take pictures of the city centre. I wanted to share this experience and get other people involved.

I knew it would be a big task to get the word out worldwide and that social media tools would play a huge part in this. The social media tools I have utilized are a website, flickr, a blog, facebook, and twitter. By doing this I have taken an online idea and made it into offline mass participation event.

I am relatively new to social media having only ‘discovered’ it about 8 months ago, but by using these tools the 4am Project is an ongoing success.

The first 4am date was set for 4th April and over 18 countries have taken part so far such as Russia, Canada, USA, Australia, Malaysia, Sweden, and Brazil, and approx 1800 photos have been submitted. A new 4am date of 21st June has been set and once again I am utilizing these social media tools to spread the word.

I have received so much great feedback about the project. From people saying that they enjoyed experiencing theirs streets at a different time, to others saying it has helped them learn more about their cameras. Some said it has helped them embrace photography again. The beauty of the project is that anyone can take part. All they need is a camera. And a willingness to get up a 4am!

Thank you again to everyone who has supported the 4am Project, given their time, skills, advice and enthusiasm. I hope you can take part on the 21st June - at 4am of course!

New 4am Project date PLUS Birmingham 4am Photo Walk!

UPDATE! Do you like strawberries and champagne? Thank you to my friends at Aquila TV who will be bringing along these tasty treats to celebrate the sun rising on the longest day of the year!

Foyle Bridge, Londonderry, N.Ireland at 4am

NEW DATE FOR 4AM PHOTOS!

Put the date in your diaries and tell your friends. The 4am Project has announced a new date – 4am on 21st June which is on a Sunday! It is also Summer Soltice and the longest day of the year. The sun will rise in London at 4.42 am. It’s going to be a beautiful time of day to capture!

There is a theme this time around for the 4am Project. It is street signs and/or shadows. With the sun rising when it does on this morning it will be great to capture the first shadows of the day breaking over the city.

I am organising a 4am photo walk AND picnic!

On the last 4am photo date on the 4th April I organise an outing to Birmingham New Street and Birmingham Wholesale Markets and we were all able to enjoy a very hearty breakfast at the market’s cafe. Unfortunately it is closed on Sundays, so bring a flask and a butty and we can relax after the photo walk with our special early morning city picnic! It will be a first!

We will meet at St Paul’s Square just before 4am and the walk will take a loop around parts of the city including the canals. Out photo journey will end back at St Paul’s Square were we can picnic on the grass.
View Larger Map

I hope you can all come along and join in. You don’t have to come along to take part in the 4am project on 21st June – of course you can stay closer to home, but you are more than welcome to come along for the 4am photo walk and picnic! See you there