Darío Gómez — who has been taking photographs for more than a decade, and in the last five years has gotten into film photography — said he wanted to meet others in Utah’s photography community.
Last September, he entered a photograph in a local contest, “One Shot to Rule Them All,” and got the chance to meet other Salt Lake City-based photographers at a gallery show celebrating the winners.
“It was a super-cool night,” Gómez said. “There were a few photographers I wanted to meet, just because I have seen them around.” Talking to them, he said, was “something that stayed” in his mind.
What Gómez launched from that inspiration is the Salt Lake Photo Community, a group of photographers who join together every month or so to take walks through parts of the city — capturing what they see through their cameras.
He said he started planning the walks to recreate that sense of community he experienced.
“I noticed a lot of us photographers are introverts,” Gómez said, “and these photo walks were kind of like a place where people felt comfortable to talk about geeky stuff, cameras and films, [with] so many new friends now from there that we can talk about anything now.”
The Salt Lake Photo Community has met a handful of times in the last 11 months. They try for every month, if not every other month. Gómez said every time, anywhere from 15 to 25 photographers attend.
“Usually, I just pick a date towards the end of the month and I plan a route to be a block or something larger,” Gómez said. “With a route in mind, we just gather together in one place and start walking together.”
So far, the walks have taken photographers to such Salt Lake City locations as the Utah Capitol and Red Butte Garden. Some of the walks have taken place at night, to catch the city lights and signs in all of their neon glory.
“Something I liked about photography [is that] many people can be in the same place and each one of us will take a different picture,” Gómez said. “That’s one of the things that I take from the photo walks. I like to see what the others take. … Maybe they are noticing things that I didn’t notice. "
Gómez said the walks tend to encourage street photography, but the photographers try to incorporate different tools and learning experiences. For example, with the night walks, people bring flash devices and tripods to try different things with lighting. The group is hoping to experiment with studio photography, too.
What results from the walks can be any type of photo — a portrait, a street shot, a detailed shot — depending on who is taking it. And, anyone with any level of skill can come, Gómez said, even if the only camera they have is the one on their phone. All will be welcomed, he said, because “we’re all learning again.”
Brianna Pereboom, owner of Opal Hour Photo, said she attended similar photo walks when she lived in Los Angeles — and was happy to find a group like this one when she moved back to Utah.
Pereboom said she met two members of the Salt Lake Photo Community at an art meetup at Mestizo Coffee. The first walk she went on with the group was at Red Butte Garden.
“I primarily shoot boudoir and empowerment portraits,” she said, “so it’s kind of opposite of doing more street and flower photography.”
Anyone interested in getting involved, Gòmez said, should keep an eye on the group’s Instagram account, or simply say hi if they encounter the group out on one of their walks.
(Ryan Mayfield) Members of the Salt Lake Photo Community, a group of photographers who gather together to take walks around parts of Salt Lake City, pose for a photo at the Utah Capitol.
“It’s not like a walk, but like a workshop for something. People will have the chance to practice different techniques,” Gómez said.
Gómez says the best part of this group has been the ability to meet so many new photographers and create a community of support.
“Sometimes we get caught in the routine of daily life, but having something that can help you to connect with other people [is] super cool.”
The Salt Lake Photo Community group is putting their creativity together in a new community zine, “Salt Lake City: Unveiled.” The zine had its launch party on July 13, and copies are available at different Utah camera stores, such as Pictureline and Essential Photo Supply.
“We wanted to have something from the community for the community,” Gómez said. They called for submissions from their walk community, and reviewed and selected the winners.
“[We selected] the ones that align with the theme of the zine, which is different perspectives and cultures in Salt Lake City and how Utah photographers see it,” Gómez said.
One of Pereboom’s photos, taken during the 2022 Utah Pride Parade, is featured in the zine. She said it’s been cool to see different types of editing and film that other photographers utilize.
(Brianna Pereboom) A photo by Salt Lake City photographer Brianna Pereboom, capturing a moment from the 2022 Utah Pride Parade, isfeatured in the Salt Lake City Photo Community's zine, "Salt Lake City: Unveiled."
“It’s just been really awesome to be in the same environment with other photographers and then see how different everybody’s photos turn out,” she said. “It’s a really neat way to be able to get new ideas on how things might work or what a different lens or settings look like and be able to collaborate with each other.”
Being involved in the zine, she said, has been a “good opportunity to put my photography out there” because she said she has “a hard time showing my photos.” She said she was able to submit six photos, and she went with shots from the Pride Festival because the LGBTQ+ community in Utah has “a really big presence.”
Overall, Pereboom said the community group has been an “awesome space” to be involved with.
The community, she said, is “just a super open, welcoming group of people. … it’s really awesome to see what people can do with just a team of people that have a like-minded goal.”