Observe (collective)

Observe is an international collective of street photographers. Established in June 2013, it brings together photographers who share the same principles, views and interests to produce projects, exhibitions, publications and events. Although mainly focusing on street photography, it is not limited to one specific genre and its members explore various genres and methods of photographic practice.

Manifesto
Observe’s mission statement on its website reads as follows:

“OBSERVE is an international photography collective focused primarily on the practice of candid street photography. Spanning four continents we are united by a common fascination with watching and documenting the diverse humanity that surrounds us. While acknowledging that photography is at its core an individual pursuit, our membership finds benefit in mutual curation and support, discussion, and other collaborative interactions.”

Current members

 * Greg Allikas
 * David Horton
 * Marcelo Argolo
 * Danielle Houghton
 * Fadi BouKaram
 * Michael May
 * Ronen Berka
 * Guille Ibañez
 * Larry Cohen
 * Ilya Shtutsa
 * Chris Farling
 * Kristin Van den Eede
 * Larry Hallegua
 * Tom Young

Past members

 * Antonis Damolis
 * Simone Fisher
 * Christos Kapatos
 * Oguz Ozkan
 * Tavepong Pratoomwong
 * Jason Reed

Exhibitions and festivals
In 2014, Observe was a Featured Collective at the Miami Street Photography Festival, and Chris Farling and Danielle Houghton were part of the jury for its competition.

From 12 June to 26 July 2015, Observe held its first group exhibition at the Staedtische Galerie in Iserlohn, Germany. The exhibition was linked to an international contest, themed Under Construction.

Two years later, the same gallery organised its first international street photography festival in collaboration with Observe, Observations 2017. The festival took place from 14–23 July and included various exhibitions at seven separate locations in Iserlohn. One of the exhibitions included the finalists of the 2017 Down by the River Competition, while another included the work of Observe members.

In August 2017, Observe's Jason Reed, Nick Turpin from In-Public, and Hoxton Mini Press organised Street London, a street photography symposium in London. The festival included talks by Siegfried Hansen, David Gibson and Dougie Wallace.

In September 2019, Observe was a featured collective at the Aussie Street Photography Festival in Sydney, Australia. In addition to a dedicated exhibition, four members of Observe (Danielle Houghton, Guille Ibanez, Kirstin van den Eede and Tom Young) acted as judges for the open call competition.

Observations magazine with work by its members

 * Observations Vol.1 n°1 (2016): Personal Reflections on Photography
 * Observations Vol.1 n°2 (2016): Personal Reflections on Fear
 * Observations Vol.2 n°1 (2017): Personal Reflections on Home
 * Observations Vol.3 n°1 (2018): Personal Reflections on Faith
 * Observations Vol.4 n°1 (2019): Personal Reflections on Nostalgia

Other books

 * 100 Great Street Photographs. Prestel, 2017. Edited by David Gibson. ISBN 978-3791383132. Included work by Ronen Berka, Ilya Shtutsa, Danielle Houghton, and Tavepong Pratoomwong.
 * Street Fight!. Observe Collective; Eyeshot, 2022. Selections of winning photographs from Observe's Flickr-based street photography competition group of the same name.