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Photographers Stan Engelbrecht & Nic Grobler have spent 2 years working on their Bicycle Portraits project in South Africa. They have cycled over 6000 kilometers and collected over 500 portraits and interviews with everyday bicycle riders in South Africa, a country where bicycles have not really taken off as a commonplace form of transport. The work is absolutely beautiful, and the result of their labors is not 1, not 2, but 3 distinct photo books. They’ve funded the first 2 stages of the project through Kickstarter and are trying to do the same for the final stage. There’s only 24 hours to go. A pledge of only $40 will get you a copy of one of the beautiful books. One thing I love about the design is the ingenious hand-painted Google Maps views of where each portrait was taken.
Dara Colwell - It’s inspiring to see your website for so many reasons. I used to live in Brooklyn (and frequently cycled into Manhattan for work) but now live in Amsterdam, where cycling is as common as eating breakfast. Still, seeing photos of NYC and how cyclists continue to come on board is exciting. Just like New Yorkers, there is infinite variety when it comes to the cycling scene and you’ve managed to capture it/them beautifully (let alone stylishly) here.
Well done and thanks!
Dmitry - Thanks so much for the lovely comment, Dara! I lived in Amsterdam for a few months in 2008, and I think it played a big role in getting me to start cycling in New York. I’m glad you’re enjoying the portraits, stick around, more coming soon.