A piggy bank for stories

I started taking photos in 2013, at a language school in Bristol. The reason was simple: I wanted to keep my memories in higher resolution.

Then I kept moving, and I noticed something. Wherever I went, taking photos opened up the easiest way to make new friends. You ask someone if you can take their picture, or you ask them to take yours, and suddenly you are talking.

That is why a camera is more than a piece of equipment for me. It’s a life companion, a witness to the moments we live, and a kind of piggy bank where we collect our stories. Our photos tell our own stories, and they don’t need everyone to understand them.

A Pexels photowalk on the Galata waterfront in Istanbul, dozens of photographers holding up their cameras at dusk.

I started on Pexels as a user, uploading photos anyone could use for free. Somehow I ended up helping shape the community that once inspired me. We used photography as a tool to bring people together: photowalks, workshops and meetups where strangers arrived with cameras and left as friends. In its first full year, the Pexels meetups program brought together more than 3,000 photographers in over 35 cities.

My photos on Pexels have been viewed more than 149 million times, which still surprises me. I love this game. I love this life.