From Flickr to Print
Featured in Open Road’s Best of Paris (2007)
Back in 2007, Flickr felt a little like the Wild West for photographers. People actually discovered your work organically, and sometimes opportunities appeared in your inbox out of nowhere.
One day I received a FlickrMail from Open Road Publishing asking if they could use my photo of Sacré-Cœur in Paris for an upcoming travel guide.
“May we have your permission to use one of your great photos — the Sacre-Couer — for our forthcoming travel guide, OPEN ROAD'S BEST OF PARIS — we of course will give you and Flickr full credit for the use of the image.”
— Open Road Publishing, via FlickrMail (2007)
The photograph was taken on May 1, 2005, during a trip to Paris. I already enjoyed photography at that point, but Paris felt endlessly photogenic — changing light, side streets, cafés, architecture, and little moments happening everywhere at once. I was photographing with my very first digital camera: a little Canon S400.
My reply to the publisher was very 2007:
“If published will you send me a free copy of the book?”
Thankfully, they said yes.
A few months later, my photograph appeared in print in Open Road’s Best of Paris, a practical travel guide filled with hotel recommendations, pricing guides, and detailed coverage of Paris and the surrounding areas for travellers trying to make the most of limited vacation time.
Seeing one of my photographs published in print for the first time felt surreal. I had already printed photos for albums and scrapbooks — including a Paris scrapbook from that trip — but this felt entirely different.
Having a photograph published in print for the first time gave me a strange but exciting feeling — like maybe the way I saw the world connected with other people too.
Part of why the experience stayed with me is that the image that ended up in print wasn’t created with expensive equipment or a highly technical setup. It came from walking, exploring, noticing the light, and being present in a moment.
Even with a tiny early digital camera, the image held up — a reminder that photography is about seeing, not just the gear.
What I miss most about early Flickr was how human it felt. The internet was smaller. Opportunities felt more personal. Photographers, writers, bloggers, and publishers were all sharing the same spaces online.
There was no algorithm strategy behind it. Just photos, communities, curiosity, and connection.
In many ways, this feels like one of the early building blocks of what would eventually become Two Decades of Seeing — a long photographic journey shaped by travel, curiosity, community, and learning how to slow down and really notice the world around me.
And honestly, I’m still glad I asked for the free book.
