FLUX WEEKLY WITNESS IV — CHRIS WALTERS (WALES)
What’s popping, people? It’s Dante.
Welcome to FLUX Weekly Witness IV, where I look at the photographs submitted through the FLUX community and talk about them physically through the printed books themselves.
Today we’re looking at a new body of work from Chris Walters out in Wales.
Before we even get into the work itself, I just want to thank you, Chris, for joining FLUX and participating in this whole experiment.
What stood out to me immediately from your introduction was how you were feeling burnt out with documentary photography and how this new workflow felt liberating again.
Honestly, that’s one of the main reasons I created this protocol.
Not to create more pressure.
Not to create more perfectionism.
But to bring photography back to something immediate, daily, physical, and alive again.
Removing Friction
It’s really cool hearing that you’ve already been using the Ricoh system for years and are now starting to adopt:
- the small JPEG workflow
- high contrast black and white
- the iPad workflow
- fast sequencing and publishing
Because that really is a huge part of FLUX.
It’s all about removing friction from the practice so you can focus on actually making work every day.
Photography, for me, is a ritual.
The point is to:
- make work quickly
- sequence it physically
- publish it
- move on
Instead of collecting endless hard drives full of unfinished imagery.
Different Worlds, Same Protocol
One thing that excites me is the fact that Chris is all the way out in Wales.
Different cities.
Different countries.
Different lives.
Different eyes.
Yet people all over the world can adopt this exact same protocol:
- 36 frames
- chronology
- sequencing
- contact sheets
- shared visual language
…while still creating something completely unique through lived experience.
That’s where this starts becoming bigger than just “street photography.”
The archive itself becomes a living document of human movement through time.
The archive becomes the artwork.
The protocol stays the same.
The worlds change inside of it.
What FLUX Actually Is
FLUX is an open photographic protocol for publishing life in chronological sequence.
The archive is the artwork.
The goal is not to make your best single images.
The goal is to continuously enter the stream of making new images.
The sequence becomes more important than the isolated “hero shot.”
Photography becomes:
- a visual diary
- a lived record
- a document of time
…instead of a curated story trying to force poetry after the fact.
“You Cannot Make the Same Photograph Twice”
The entire philosophy comes down to one idea:
You cannot make the same photograph twice.
The light changes.
You change.
Your body changes.
Your mind changes.
Every frame becomes unrepeatable.
Every issue becomes a fragment of transformation.
Why 36 Frames?
I locked the books into a 36-frame constraint as an homage to one roll of 35mm film.
But more importantly, the limitation creates:
- rhythm
- structure
- completion
No endless editing.
No infinite additions.
No obsessing over what to remove.
The work exists inside a fixed numerical structure.
Chronology Over Narrative
The chronological sequencing is about relinquishing control.
The walk itself becomes the structure.
Time organizes the work.
Not the ego.
Not rearranging images later to create artificial meaning.
The sequence should reflect:
- the real movement you made
- through space
- through time
The photographer becomes a witness instead of a manipulator.
Why Black and White?
Black and white removes distraction and friction.
The workflow becomes focused on:
- light
- shadow
- gesture
- movement
- instinct
This system is optimized for:
- cheap office printing
- reproducibility
- speed
- daily publishing
Cheap Paper, Bureaucratic Aesthetics
These books are intentionally:
- disposable
- archival
- bureaucratic
- poetic
They’re printed on cheap copy paper.
The aesthetic language comes from:
- manila folders
- police records
- field reports
- contact sheets
- bureaucratic evidence
These are not luxury art objects.
The contradiction between:
- fragile physical object
- permanent digital archive
…is intentional.
The Protocol Page
Inside the book, the protocol page functions as the artist statement.
Not mythology.
Not over-explanation.
The protocol itself is the statement.
The QR code invites anyone to participate.
Anyone can run the structure.
The process is transparent.
The protocol becomes the curatorial principle.
I designed it intentionally like a mechanical instruction manual.
Contact Sheets & Manifest Pages
At the back of the books:
- we have the contact sheet
- the 36-frame homage
- the manifest page with exact timestamps
The layout itself is extremely minimal:
- blank white space
- visible staples
- visible staple marks
- simple typography
- blank backs
- protocol page
- contact sheet
The object itself is supposed to resemble an everyday bureaucratic document.
Something mundane.
Something you’d see somebody carrying around through the city.
Looking at Chris Walters’ Work
Now getting into the actual photographs themselves.
The very first image is incredibly strong.
Compositionally:
- the light
- the timing
- the gesture
- the background placement
…everything is working.
But more importantly:
there’s emotional closeness.
And that’s what makes a photograph powerful to me.
Not just technical perfection.
I feel something in the image.
Emotional Closeness
The visual diary approach is about embracing what’s nearest to you.
You don’t need to travel across the world.
You can:
- drive in a car with your family
- sit at the movies
- walk through town
- observe your child sleeping
…and create profound work.
I believe emotion can emerge through:
- gaze
- light
- shadow
- gesture
- absence
Not necessarily dramatic events.
Relinquishing Control
One thing I love is seeing how diptychs naturally arise through chronology.
These images made within minutes of each other suddenly begin speaking to one another.
Without forcing it.
Without constructing it.
There’s magic in relinquishing control.
Geometry & Minimalism
Chris has an extremely strong sense of geometry and minimalist composition.
The ambiguity in the frames is beautiful.
The relationship between:
- interior/exterior
- reflections
- silhouettes
- mystery
- negative space
…is handled very naturally.
You have a very strong eye, Chris.
Memory & Time
I love photographs that bring you back to the exact moment you were there.
Even seeing:
- a pint
- an empty chair
- a shopping bag
- a small gesture
…can transport you back into lived experience.
That’s why I’m interested in chronology.
It preserves memory through sequence.
Imperfection
One practical thing:
If you’re using the iPad Photos app with high contrast black and white, sometimes the highlights clip heavily.
Honestly, half my images look like that too.
If you care:
- slightly reduce highlights
- underexpose a little
- pull highlights down maybe -5
…but also:
embrace imperfection.
Who really cares?
Cheap Printing & Texture
Something I’ve been realizing more and more:
I’m honestly more drawn to these cheap laser prints than expensive fine art prints.
The textures:
- toner
- artifacts
- cheap copy paper
- crushed blacks
- blown highlights
…it almost starts resembling charcoal drawings.
There’s something deeply human about it.
Even the imperfections become beautiful.
Carrying Prints Physically
I actually printed one image recently and literally carried it around crumpled in my pocket.
Folding it.
Destroying it.
Aging it.
And honestly?
I love it more now than when it was pristine.
The imperfections become part of the life of the object itself.
Final Thoughts
Great work, Chris.
Looking forward to more submissions and seeing more work in the Discord daily walks channel.
Going forward:
- submit directly through the generator
- I’ll review one body of work each week
- print the issue
- physically go through the sequence
I think this approach feels much more personal.
Heraclitus & Flux
The primary inspiration behind FLUX philosophically comes from Heraclitus.
“You cannot step in the same river twice.”
Applied to photography:
“You cannot make the same photograph twice.”
By reducing photography back down to:
- light
- shadow
- movement
- time
…I’m finding infinite possibility in the medium again.
Seeing Beyond Human Vision
Your eyes don’t have shutter speed.
You do not see the way the camera sees.
Photography becomes an act of surprise.
You chip away at life and light.
The camera reveals something your eyes alone could never fully perceive.
That mystery is what keeps me endlessly curious about photography.
Influences
A huge influence on this work is:
- Provoke
- grain
- urgency
- imperfection
- anti-perfectionism
- cheap reproducibility
And also conceptual art:
where the system itself becomes part of the artwork.
The rules generate the work.
The archive becomes the sculpture across time.
Closing
So yeah.
Go to:
http://flux.dantesisofo.com/generator/