Chad Stuart—a Photographer who Keeps Walking

A lot of words can be used to describe the identity of Chad Stuart: a kind American living in Guangzhou; a responsible international professor teaching at GDUFS; an experienced photographer discovering the beauty of life, and others. Among these words, “a photographer who keeps walking” is a good choice because he fell in love with photography as a child and he loves running and traveling.

Chad Stuart

The camera catching Chad Stuart’s heart

When he was a child, Chad Stuart developed deep love for photography, influenced by his grandfather (an excellent photographer) and encouraged by his father. He likes to take both happy and sorrowful memories and stories with his camera and thus documents life. Now, he regards photography as his favorite career. He works for the magazine and newspaper, but as a freelancer.

Chad Stuart has his own ideas about what the photographic industry needs and how photographic theories are put into practice. “Photographers need to maintain their skills and keep up with the trend. A good photographer should keep practicing.” Chad said. “Anybody can push a button; anybody with an iPhone can shoot. But it is not real photography. Real photography requires professional training and methods of how to make real images. Photography is a lifetime of continued education.”

Chad Stuart's photograph: Metro Line 2 in Guangzhou

The Worldwide Photo Walk in Guangzhou

The worldwide Photo Walk, a photographic activity in which everybody can participate as long as they love photography, started 8 years ago and Chad Stuart has been a member of it for 5 years.

WWPW is the act of walking with a camera, or even a smartphone, for the purpose of taking pictures of interestingthings along the way. Through taking part in the event in Guangzhou, Chad Stuart has seen Guangzhou in differentways: it is different, traditional and classic. In addition, WWPW is also a recreational event, providing lots of opportunities for photographers to explore more parts of the city. The photographers come from all over the world and all walks of life: some are foreigners who happen to be here, some are Chinese who work in Guangzhou, and some are students who major in photography and other subjects. “Although I could not exchange ideas with every single person, this surely is a good opportunity for me to share knowledge and to learn from others.”

WWPW

Running and traveling—other ways of walking

If photographyis a kind of profession for Chad, then running is a lifelong hobby of much importance to him. In the morning, after drinking a cup of coffee, Chad runs near his apartment for at least 10 kilometers, instead of staying at home when he has no courses. Running has been an indispensable part of his colorful life. Two years ago, he ever participated in a very interesting running activity—the Color Run, where a lot of people ran together with different colors painted on their faces. “This kind of activity is really great and encourages more people to go out because they could have fun while running during the activity. And in the activity, we can make friends with those who share asimilar interest. ” Chad Stuart praised the Color Run.

However, for most people, running seems to be not so interesting, and persisting in running is a tough job for them. When asked the reasons why he loves running so much, Chad Stuart said, “Running every day is a healthy lifestyle, making me energetic. What is more important, for me, is that running for a long time is a kind of meditation.” When Chad Stuart runs in the morning, nobody comes with him. He prefers to run alone. The moments of running are valuable time alone when he can stay away from the hustle and bustle, the social media and the social life. While running, he can sort out emotions, impressions and other ideas.

The Color Run

Traveling is also a major part of Chad Stuart’s life. He often goes on vacation with a camera to record the life, the culture and the people’s activities in other places. Until now, he has been to a lot of places, including Hangzhou and Indonesia. Last year, Chad Stuart went to Cambodia to visit the fabulous temples and to learn the amazing history of the country. “Guangzhou is my starting point of traveling. I would like to see as manyplaces as I can.” He said.

An excellent photographer should keep walking to find the good things and to record life. And Chad Stuart is one of these—a photographer who keeps walking.