Koci: 1000 Shots Shaun S.
Shaun’s Introduction
So, almost 4 months back @koci did a one-day all-day street photo shoot. He said he shot 1000 plus images that day. He picked 65 of his favorite shots from the day and posted them on Instagram (and other social networks), in July. He gave everyone a couple warnings that he was going to blast their feeds with images from the day, and then recreated his day in photographs by posting real time, at the same times the originals were shot, including a time stamp. It was a massively inspiring tour of the streets of San Fransisco. I found out about this experiment after the fact, as I was away from IG for several days. As I was catching up on my favorite artists, I stumbled onto these images. As I was processing and going thru the images slowly, some questions started to raise in my mind, mainly curiosity as to how this project came about. What motivated Koci to do something of this scale? What were some of the outcomes he was going for? etc.
After the questions had gone around in my brain a few times, I decided to hit Koci up and ask him. Originally this was to satisfy my own curiosity, but I began to think that the community here may be interested to hear and benefit from it was well.
Real quickly, for those unfamiliar with Richard Koci Hernandez, he is currently a professor of multimedia journalism at UC Berkley. Richard worked as a multimedia journalist and photographer with the San Jose Mercury News for 15 years. His work has earned multiple awards, including an Emmy, and has been published in many major national and international publications. He has nearly a bazillion followers on Instagram, yet he has been very approachable and kind to be willing to share and engage with the mobile photography community, and answer questions from the likes of me! 
S: Shaun K: Koci
S: What was the vision behind the project that got you saying “I’m gonna do this!”?
K: I got tired of my normal Instagram posting routine and felt there must be another way to engage and share. Normally I’m a slow-roaster, posting only one image a day, but I thought it might be time to microwave some popcorn, and post a lot at once, if that makes any sense at all.
S: Were there any particular outcomes that you were looking for beforehand? ie. Personal results, reaction in the community on IG, further projects or works etc?
K: Yes I wanted to see if my ‘audience’ would handle such a flow of content. Sometimes I have good days on the street and wished I could share more than my normal one or two pics. Now I see most people welcome it. I did lose a few thousand followers, not that it matters, so not everybody welcomed the flood of images. I can honestly say I didn’t think too much about it, I just kinda thought it would be cool, to share such a steady stream of images. I wish I had a more profound and deep answer.
S: After it was completed, how did you feel about how it turned out?
K: I felt good. It was a strong reflection of my day. I was proud. Overall it was better received than I expected. I thought people would see it as more of a nuisance than they did. Who really wants 65 images from one person jamming their feed in one day? But I did warn folks, twice! So they knew what was coming. I’m ready to do it again!
S: Was there anything unexpected that happened?
K: YES! For the first time in my entire career as a street photographer, someone contacted me and said, “Hey, that’s me!” They were flattered as was I, and they just wanted a copy of the image which I gladly supplied along with the outtakes.
S: How often are you able to get out and shoot the streets? I’m assuming all day is pretty rare, yes?
K: It’s a rare treat when I can get out for an all day street adventure, which made this extra rewarding. Normally my photographic adventures are ‘quick hits’ as I carry-on about my day. A picture here-and-there, maybe one or two pics a day. This was a marathon session. I’m starting to itch for another street adventure,
S: How do you feel about how mobile photography has changed/ is changing throughout your time from journalism to mobile and teaching?
K: Mobile photography is changing in a sense that it’s being generally accepted as photography. It’s beginning to shed the mobile label. I welcome this as it’s just a tool and the results are photography.
*Editor’s Note: The photos in this article are #1, 11, 21, 31, 41, 51, and 61 from his series. The rest of his series can be seen on Koci’s Flickr stream and down below.
Richard Koci Hernandez Multimedia Journalist \ Twitter \ Instagram \ Flickr
