Photographer Alan Schaller has finally completed his Metropolis series; a haunting and provocative look at the isolation many feel in a big city.

Schaller tells PetaPixel that the project was shot over the course of seven years all across the world. However, he intentionally doesn’t reveal the locations of his photos because of Metropolis’ overall theme: social disconnection.

“I could take pictures that fit that theme anywhere I was in the world, it didn’t really matter where the location was,” says Schaller. “The point is this homogenous thing is happening, whether you’re in Paris, Tokyo, or New York — it’s becoming more similar, I think.”

Schaller, a Leica ambassador, has now released Metropolis as a book featuring the distinctive photos that led him to become one of the darling photographers of Instagram.

He says that his style has always been much the same. It may surprise some to learn that he posts on Flickr too.

“The vast majority of [my photos] have always been in black and white. But the editing wasn’t there, so they were much flatter. So it was really an instinctive thing.”

Schaller is inspired by Fan Ho and even the sculptor Alberto Giacometti. But his biggest influence is Ansel Adams and was particularly fascinated by the look the American photographer gave to his monochrome prints.

“I loved the way that he had that tonal pop and if you’ve ever seen one of his prints, like a big one, they’re just amazing,” he says.

Schaller’s fascination with Adams directly influenced his own work. He “obsessed” over Adams’ grayscale zone system which divides photos into eleven zones: nine shades of gray and pure black and white.

This led to Metropolis’ novel layout: the darker images — with blacker tones — are at the start of the book with the images making their way through the grayscale until the end of the book when it becomes predominantly white.

“It’s a bit of a metaphor, you can read into it as you wish,” says Schaller who invites viewers to come up “with your own narrative” to his photos.

‘You Just Photoshop Everything’

Schaller was late to photography, originally pursuing a career in the music industry. He began shooting with an iPhone and would get carried away with trying to compose and edit the smartphone photos to his liking.

He is frequently told that he just Photoshops everything by those “who do not wish to further understanding of metering and just shout and accuse.”

But he insists that the images in Metropolis are captured in-camera and many of the photos required “two or three minutes to edit.” He even showed PetaPixel a few of his photos on the back of his Leica.

“I think people often put a look or a style down to just how it’s edited, which is completely ridiculous,” says Schaller.

“There’s a lot more to it, the feel of the images, the atmosphere. You can go through my entire archive and you might find one or two people where they’re smiling. That is just something I don’t like pressing the shutter for.”

Schaller has also begun to experiment with film but all of Metropolis is digital.

Instagram Photographer

If you’re reading this and you already know who Alan Schaller is then there’s a strong chance it’s because of Instagram. Schaller has over one million followers and his strong audience is partly the reason he got the book deal.

“I think it’s one of the greatest gifts that photography has ever had. A lot of people think it’s not and they hate it and they say it’s the death of everything, but none of those people have figured out how to create a massive following because there is a huge benefit from it,” he says.

“It’s not the end game, but it’s a very useful tool for getting people to events, for actually connecting with real photographers.”

Schaller was late joining Instagram (2015), initially being put off by the square format. He readily admits that it is still not the ideal medium for photography, but it remains one of the most effective global platforms.

For example, he exhibited his work in Australia which a few hundred people turned up to — despite never going there before — which he puts down to his Instagram following.

“Every generation of photographer has had a different way, a different approach to having to get their work out there,” he says.

“Maybe in the fifties and sixties you had to get into Nat Geo, maybe in the eighties it would help if you were shooting for Time Magazine.

“Whereas for this generation, there was no other way for me to get my work out there. And I think it puts a lot of power into the photographer’s hands. It gives you your own distribution. And so for the first time, photographers can control how they publish and what they want to say and it’s all down to them.”

He admits there are times when he doesn’t like the ‘Gram but says that by taking it seriously early on it’s given him good standing.

“Today I think Instagram is very hard to grow on. And I think if I started now, it would’ve been maybe a bit different,” he adds.

Metropolis is out now and is published by ACC Art Books and is also available on Amazon. More of Schaller’s work can be found on his Instagram, Flickr, YouTube, and website.

Image credits: Photographs by Alan Scahller

The Moment 75mm macro lens is a professional-quality piece of photography equipment for smartphone users to pair with their device as a way to enhance the capabilities of their device. The lens features 10-times magnification that will provide an intense shallow field depth yet still include enough of the background in the shot. The result is the ability to capture creative shots that simply wouldn’t be possible with a smartphone and would instead require a DSLR setup to achieve.

The Moment 75mm macro lens is priced at $119.99 and works with the brand’s T-Series setup to support seamless use on the smartphone. The lens is compatible for use with Apple, Samsung and Google smartphones by simply utilizing the corresponding mount for the specific device.

Take the narrow path off Main Street in Vineyard Haven between Claudia’s Jewelry and Soft as a Grape to the Michael Johnson Photo Gallery, to imbibe the holiday spirit. Happily, after 29 years, the well-known Island photographer, who spends the summer season here, has decided to return from his winter home in California to share the holidays with us.

Johnson lived on-Island year-round for 15 years: “I spent them on the Vineyard, and always loved Christmas in New England, which has that old-time Christmas spirit that means a lot to me as a big lover of the holiday season, or — as I call it — Christa-Chanu-Kwanzaa. I felt it was time to come back for Christmas because there is such energy here during the season. It’s a good time to share more of my art with people.”

While Johnson has an excellent online presence, most of his sales come about in person. If you have ever met the very personable and articulate photographer, you understand why. He says, “People love coming to the gallery in the summertime and interacting with the artist. That’s a big part of the experience. It makes them a part of Martha’s Vineyard. Being able to do this in the Christmas season is a wonderful thing.”

Johnson will be arriving on Dec. 15, and open by about 3 pm that day. Knowing he would return for the holidays, Johnson prepared the gallery before taking off after the summer season. “I left it so that basically it will be plug and play. It will take me just a few hours to get set up, and I will be boots on the ground.”

Walking up, you will see the outside decorated with lights and other ornaments. When you walk into his cozy gallery, there is a lot of new imagery, so we get a sneak peek before next year’s visitors arrive.

The new works are landscapes — Aquinnah, Menemsha, and Inkwell Beach are just a few locations. “This fall, I really concentrated on getting out and creating some new photographs, because it is my time to work. This year, I had an inspired season,” Johnson said. There will also be some favored classics on view, including his famous image of 22 Polar Bear Club members waist-deep in water, with arms lifted at varying angles toward the sky in an exuberant salutation that includes, “I am the source of my joy and infinite possibilities!” — and thus the inspiration for the work’s title: “Joy/Inkwell.”

Johnson had been a year-rounder for a decade and a half, but left because, he says, “The window had closed for me. As far as opportunities, I had done everything I believed I was equipped and ready to do at that point. Moving to California let me have experiences that allowed me to come back and create new, very enriching, shared Martha’s Vineyard experiences with Islanders and visitors.”

Johnson adds, “It has surpassed anything I could have dreamed of, being back on the Island in this new incarnation.”

Michael Johnson Photo Gallery, at 34A Main St. in Vineyard Haven, is open seven days a week, from 10 am to 6 pm, from Dec. 15 through 30 (closed Christmas Day). For more information and images, see michaeljimage.com and inkwell-mv.com, and Instagram at @michaeljohnsonphoto_mvy_sf.

This list includes some of the top photography trends in 2023, including products ranging from cameras and accessories to smartphones and drones. The photography industry is increasingly trending toward higher-fidelity, higher-framerate cameras, more compact sizes, and convenient features such as AI focusing.

The Leica M11-P is a unique digital camera when it comes to its value-add features. Namely, the M11-P utilizes Adobe’s ‘Content Authenticity Initiative (CAI)’ and an integrated security chip to encrypt each photo taken with the device. The security chip generates a signed certificate for each photo that can be verified through CAI, which ensures photos are valid and prevents tampering or editing.

On the convenience side, the X-H2S from Fujifilm is an advanced mirrorless camera with embedded artificial intelligence (AI)-powered features. The X-H2S is equipped with a 6.2k-resolution, 30P full sensor for high-quality recording up to 90 minutes at a time. The uniqueness of this camera, though, come from its AI-powered autofocus that dynamically adjust to the distance of the focal subject, as well as the lighting and motion in the area.

For more information on the latest photography trends, check out our 2024 Trend Report.

Some time ago I ran an online workshop for the The Photography Show’s Spring Shoots virtual event, called ‘Finding Your Creative Mojo’. During my preparation, however, I soon released that it was not as easy a subject to take on as I’d first thought. It turns out that creativity is one of those things that’s really difficult to quantify.

Camera techniques are relatively straightforward to demonstrate in a workshop; in contrast, creativity proved more tricky. I believe that creativity can be learned and nurtured – but how to go about nurturing it is a challenge. 

Ultimately, the advice I gave seemed quite humdrum. I didn’t reveal some exotic tonic to the secret of creativity: instead, I talked about making boundaries, becoming accountable, enforcing deadlines, embracing the banal and so on. But most of all, I talked about exercise. You need to exercise your creativity to become more creative, in much the same way that you exercise if you want to keep physically fit. There’s no point going to the gym once a month: you need to exercise several times a week. The same is true with creative photography. 

If you just engage with photography at epic, honey-spot locations at the magic hour in perfect conditions, you will not be making images all that often. However, if you embrace the banal, take photographs everywhere and anywhere, and respond to your surroundings, you will refine your vision and flex your creative muscles.

I find a quick 10-minute session timed with an alarm has proved a great way to ‘exercise’ on a daily basis. Tulips, an enduringly fascinating subject to me, have become part of the exercise. I try to photograph them for 10 minutes with sheer abandon, just to see what happens. Most of the time, the answer is not much – and that’s OK, it’s part of the process. However, occasionally you get an image you like.  

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4. For the 2023 3.2 for 32 Run in Remembrance, I had the honor to photograph the event once again. However, this time, I got to be up in the crane at the start line. Not only was the one of the coolest things with photography I’ve ever done, but I truly got to witness how Virginia Tech is a one-of-a-kind place, and I was just so proud to be just one person part of something so much bigger than myself. It is so special here and seeing thousands of people come together once again to honor the lives of those taken from us in 2007 was incredible.

5. There is something so simple, yet special, about just grabbing lunch with friends at a dining hall. For me, I have always happened to have a lunch break Tuesday and Thursday afternoons between classes. Over the semesters, I have had a lot of my friends in a cappella who have come together at Turner Place for “Tuesday/Thursday lunch” where we just sit down, eat and enjoy each other’s company. It sounds very normal, but this has been such a special time to me. Some people have graduated and new people join in randomly, but the ability to have a consistent time to see people I care about has been crucial here. Some days we just laugh and tell stories, some days we cry and talk about struggles, and some days we just sit in silence and eat and do homework and enjoy each other’s company. Regardless of what it looked like each time, it was amazing to have that time to look forward to in the midst of our busy lives.