Walking Turtles

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About Walking Turtles

For photos taken during the act of Flânerie, a concept derived somewhat from the event of walking turtles down the street, as the turtles set the speed of travel, observationism is almost forced and the world becomes a visual feast. Street Photography of sorts, but observational, not intruding, except perhaps with your mere presence. Post photos of your travels, worldwide or in your local area and debate whether we as photographers can truly just observe. Let the turtles of our modern earth set your pace.


"Highly self-aware, and to a certain degree flamboyant and theatrical, dandies of the mid-nineteenth century created scenes through outrageous acts like walking turtles on leashes down the streets of Paris. Such acts exemplify a flâneur's active participation in and fascination with street life while displaying a critical attitude towards the uniformity, speed and anonymity of modern life in the city.

The term "Flâneur" comes from the French verb flâner, which means "to stroll". On a basic level, then, a flâneur is a person who strolls the city in order to experience it. Because of the term's usage and theorization by Charles Baudelaire and numerous thinkers in economic, cultural, literary and historical fields, the idea of the flâneur has accumulated significant meaning as a referent for understanding urban phenomena.

While Baudelaire characterized the flâneur as a "gentleman stroller of city streets", he saw the Flâneur as having a key role in understanding, participating in and portraying the city. A flâneur thus both played a role in city life and (in theory) remained a detached observer. This stance, simultaneously part of and apart from, combines sociological, anthropoligical, literary and historical notions of the releationship between the individual and the crowd. Around 1850, Baudelaire began asserting that traditional art was inadequate for the new dynamic complications of modern life. Social and economic changes brought by industrialization demanded that the artist immerse himself in the metropolis and become, in Baudelaire's phrase, "a botanist of the sidewalk"; an analytical connoisseur of the urban fabric. Because he coined the word to refer to Parisians, the "flâneur" (the one who strolls) and "flânerie" (the act of strolling) are associated with Paris and, more generally, the kind of pedestrian environment that accommodates leisurely exploration of city streets, in particular commercial avenues where inhabitants of different classes mix." - Wikipedia Article