Meet William Karstens | Street Photographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with William Karstens and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi William, do you have some perspective or insight you can share with us on the question of when someone should give up versus when they should keep going?
I don’t think it’s a matter of either. In fact either of those are the easier thing to do. Doing things as you always do them can leave a person stagnate. Giving up is, just as it says, giving up.

It should be a matter of knowing when to pivot, when to adjust, when to grow in a different direction. A mentor told me, a few times, “Follow your North Star”. It’s applicable, especially to photography, and has been for me specifically. Sometimes, street photography can grate on you. There are weeks where timing wasn’t good, and shots were missed. There are weeks where people were combative on having their photo taken. There are times where my heart was just not in sync, and it looked like I was doing the same old thing. If you reach a level of fatigue, you should look at where you want to be, your future history, and then adjust course.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Everything takes effort. I don’t think I’ve reached a level of professional yet, and honestly, hope that never happens. Streetphotography, at least to me, is partly a journey, and you grow along with the city as it grows.

Lessons learned along the way? Stay alert. Be humble. Never be afraid to go back and look at things from a slightly different angle. There’s always something happening.

“Mundane Skirmish” is an idea that is meant to be a counter or foundation. Mundane, as in a lot of the scenes on the street are just everyday. We ignore that a lot, until we want to know history, and then we long to know “what was life like outside of big events”. Skirmish are small battles. Ones you may see, but don’t pay attention to. That can be anything from homeless people trying to fight out an existence, to people pushing the edges of their world to get/be more.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
There are a lot of photographers that have been influential, but most of those are simply by thier photos. There are some stunning photographers who’ve taken time to talk me through what I’m doing, and give some pieces of advice. They are David Munson, Rachel Bellinsky, David Bennick, Ralph Starkweather and Jay Stranka. All of them have been influential in many ways.

Instagram: @mundaneskirmish

Image Credits
Photo by @mundaneskirmish