4am Project on the Danny Kelly Show - BBC WM

I was invited onto the Danny Kelly Show at BBC WM yesterday to talk about the 4am Project and the Birmingham Photo Walk & Picnic. You can listen to the interview here :)

The 4am Project needs YOUR vote!

UPDATE: The 4am Project didn't win the award, but a big thank you to everybody who voted and supported the project during the awards. It is very much appreciated everybody, and there is always next year! :)

I have entered the 4am Project into the Digital Press Awards and voting is now open!

I would really appreciate your support and your vote for the 4am Project.

Visit the Digital Press Awards here - the voting area is on the bottom right hand corner.

Here is what I submitted to the awards:

I wish to nominate my global photography project: 4am Project.

The aim of the 4amproject is to gather a collection of photos from around the world at the magical time of 4am.

Although it’s roots lie in Birmingham, the project is a worldwide community experience and aims to capture a time of day that many people rarely see. Building on the ever growing phenomenon of social media, the 4am Project is an exercise in global solidarity to encourage the sharing of visual imagery that reflects the world we live in.

The idea was born out of my ‘Birmingham At 4am’ project, where I have been going out at 4am to take pictures of the city centre. I wanted to share this experience and get other people involved.

I knew it would be a big task to get the word out worldwide and that social media tools would play a huge part in this. The social media tools I have utilized are a website, flickr, a blog, facebook, and twitter. By doing this I have taken an online idea and made it into offline mass participation event.

I am relatively new to social media having only ‘discovered’ it about 8 months ago, but by using these tools the 4am Project is an ongoing success.

The first 4am date was set for 4th April and over 18 countries have taken part so far such as Russia, Canada, USA, Australia, Malaysia, Sweden, and Brazil, and approx 1800 photos have been submitted. A new 4am date of 21st June has been set and once again I am utilizing these social media tools to spread the word.

I have received so much great feedback about the project. From people saying that they enjoyed experiencing theirs streets at a different time, to others saying it has helped them learn more about their cameras. Some said it has helped them embrace photography again. The beauty of the project is that anyone can take part. All they need is a camera. And a willingness to get up a 4am!

Thank you again to everyone who has supported the 4am Project, given their time, skills, advice and enthusiasm. I hope you can take part on the 21st June - at 4am of course! :)

New 4am Project date PLUS Birmingham 4am Photo Walk!

UPDATE! Do you like strawberries and champagne? Thank you to my friends at Aquila TV who will be bringing along these tasty treats to celebrate the sun rising on the longest day of the year!

Foyle Bridge, Londonderry, N.Ireland at 4am

NEW DATE FOR 4AM PHOTOS!


Put the date in your diaries and tell your friends. The 4am Project has announced a new date - 4am on 21st June which is on a Sunday! It is also Summer Soltice and the longest day of the year. The sun will rise in London at 4.42 am. It's going to be a beautiful time of day to capture!


There is a theme this time around for the 4am Project. It is street signs and/or shadows. With the sun rising when it does on this morning it will be great to capture the first shadows of the day breaking over the city.

I am organising a 4am photo walk AND picnic!

On the last 4am photo date on the 4th April I organise an outing to Birmingham New Street and Birmingham Wholesale Markets and we were all able to enjoy a very hearty breakfast at the market's cafe. Unfortunately it is closed on Sundays, so bring a flask and a butty and we can relax after the photo walk with our special early morning city picnic! It will be a first!


We will meet at St Paul's Square just before 4am and the walk will take a loop around parts of the city including the canals. Out photo journey will end back at St Paul's Square were we can picnic on the grass.


View Larger Map





I hope you can all come along and join in. You don't have to come along to take part in the 4am project on 21st June - of course you can stay closer to home, but you are more than welcome to come along for the 4am photo walk and picnic! See you there :)

A Huge Thank You!

I just want to say a big thank you to some lovely peeps. Their support throughout the 4am Project has been amazing. They have offered advice and help, kept me sane, made me laugh when I felt like crying, got up at 4am, helped spread the word about the project, motivated and inspired me.

I realised that in doing this I may have left some people out - I apologise! It's just an oversight - give me a nudge :)

Thanks again everybody!

My Mum and Dad and good friends Faith, Phillip & Martin
Andrew Dubber
Andrew Yates
Andy Mabbett
Ben Whitehouse
Bostin Bloke
Chris Unitt
Daniel Davies
Dave Haynes
Dom Barnes
Dominique Jackson
Ed Hart
Emily Quinton
Emma Jones
Fiona Cullinan
Fiona Handscomb
Gavin Wray
Helga Henry
Jaki Booth
Joanna Geary
Jon Bounds
Julia Gilbert
Julia Higginbottom
Katie Parry
Katie Spragg
Lee Allen
Lyle Bignon
Manee Authi
Mark Comerford
Mark Steadman
Marty Taylor
Matthew Martin
Michael Grimes
Nick Booth
Paul Groves
Pete Ashton
Phil Grocott
Rachel Creative
Rasga
Red Annie
Russell Hall
Ruth Ward Tara Tomes -Rewired Pr
Sas Taylor
Shona McQuillan
Simon Howes
Snow Blind
Stef Lewandowski
Steve Nicholls
Viki Green

4am Project - big update!

Where to start?!

It's been a week since 4am on 4th April when I asked people to take part building a global picture of the world at 4am.

Almost 1,500 photos have been submitted to date.

I have yet to work out exactly how many people took part, and from what countries. Not everybody has geotagged their photos (it wasn't something I asked people to do) but here is a screen shot of a random selection of countries that took part.




The response has been amazing! Thank you to everyone who took part!

As you may know, I organised a 4am photo walk in Birmingham city centre. About 35 people turned up! A big thank you to Birmingham New Street Station and the Wholesale Markets for giving photo permission.

I have a lot of people to thank. I have received so much support, and I am going to post an entry just for thank yous - there are so many!

The 4am Project will be continuing. No sooner than 4am on 4th April had passed, people where asking 'what's happening next?!'. Please watch this space and/or the 4am Project's website for announcements. You can also follow me and the 4am Project on twitter: @karenstrunks and @4amproject.

I am busy working behind the scenes and have a few things in the pipeline. This project is all consuming, every spare minute is dedicated to it and I am excited about taking the 4am Project forward.

It was 10 weeks from the launch of the 4am Project's website to 4th April and it's amazing what has been achieved. I am not sure it has all sunk in even yet! There were times when I thought about the scale of the project and wondered how I was going to achieve everything and make it a truly global picture of the world at the magical time of 4am. Fortunately Rewired PR from Birmingham kindly sponsored the project and worked their PR magic and secured publicity from around the world online, in print (newspapers and photographic magazines), radio and television.

I have made a video (in 3 parts) about the origins of the project, how it all happened and what's going to happen next. I talk about the highs, the tears, things I have learnt and people that have helped, and what can be achieved in a short space of time if you have passion and enthusiasm.

I am looking for sponsorship for the project, so if that is something you or someone you know may be interested in, I would be interested in hearing your proposals.

I hope you enjoy the videos.









My first tv interview! BBC Midlands Today on 3rd April



I was invited onto The Sunday Social Show on Rhubarb Radio to chat about the project. I filmed a few minutes of the interview.



You can also listen to a podcast of my interview with Jon Bounds from The Big Paws radio show on Rhubarb Radio.

On the morning of the 4am photo walk in Birmingham I had arranged to pick up a few friends. I underestimated the time it would take to get from A to B and we were running late. This is some footage from the manic car journey!



Lots of '4am-ers' having been blogging about their 4am experiences! They had lots of adventures and fun at 4am!

Jen at Life Begins At 30 discovers the magic of 4am with friends.

Citizen Sheep got out of bed for a harebrained idea and enjoyed the biggest breakfast in the world!

Paul Groves feels a tingle down his spine and wonders about early morning ghosts.

Jon Bounds from The Big Paws radio show made a 4am picture with words.

Nicky Getgood has lots of 4am encounters!

Familiar streets take on a different atmosphere for Rachel Creative.

Pete Ashton joins a 4am photo walk in Birmingham.

There was snapping, sneaking, toe stubbing and a distinct lack of snoozing for Graphiquillan

Scott Wyden has a roof top view at 4am in Baltimore.

Fiona Cullian leaves the comfort of her bed at 4am on Englands coastline.

The BBC Radio Four's Today Programme took part too!

The bear necessities for 4am by Craig Morton.

Lee Allen ventures out to join other 4am photographers.

4am Project: The Director's Cut by Nick Miners.

Eightball wore his sunglasses at 4am.

Virtual Photography Studio experienced a cold, snowy morning at Cherry Creak Reservoir

Donato Esposito's plans didn't go to...plan. Luckily there was a plan B. And C!

Apartment 718 survived a car chase, cops and found out his life was worth $16!

Dave from Boxer Creative soaks up the 4am atmosphere.

Vivian Empyre felt empowered at 4am and bonded with his camera.

Neil combined his love for food and photography at 4am.

Matt Murtagh has 4am fun.

Adam found Paris busier than he expected.

Phil Grocott slept in but still made it out in time!

Our youngest 4am-er? I think so! Gaby came out with her family to join a 4am photo walk.

And most importantly, the wonderful images of 4am from around the world!



I think I have caught up with all things 4am! I am still working hard on the project and there will be more to come soon, and in between I am taking photos!

Thanks again everybody. There wouldn't have been a 4am Project without you.

Join the 4am photo walk in the city this Saturday!

UPDATE: As well as Birmingham New Street Station, I now have permission for us to go to Birmingham Wholesale Markets! There are cafes there so we can have a much needed breakfast and cup of tea afterwards :)


Reservoir Road, Edgbaston at 4am

As part of the 4am Project I'm organising a 4am photo walk through Birmingham city centre on Sat 4th April at......4am!

It's a great opportunity to take a unique tour of the city at an often unseen time. Part of the tour will include Birmingham New Street station who have kindly given their permission for the '4am-ers' to take pictures and I now have received permission for us to go to the Birmingham Wholesale Market which will certainly be one of the busiest, if the the busiest, area of the city centre at 4am!

The meeting point is the big brass bull outside the Bullring shopping centre at 4am. Please be on time, and don't forget your camera!

We shall be joined by Birmingham: It's Not Shit host Mr Jon Bounds who will be interviewing willing participants for his and Julia Gilbert's radio show, The Big Paws, on Rhubarb Radio which will be broadcast later that morning!

Hope to see you there!

If you have any queries you can tweet me @karenstrunks or @4amproject

Or drop me an email: karenstrunks (@) hotmail.co.uk

B4AM - Reservoir Road

A few weeks ago, in this post, I asked which part of Birmingham I should go to next at 4am.

After putting the suggestions in a hat (bowl!), Edgbaston Reservoir was were I was heading.

It was extremely foggy and didn't get as many shots as I would have liked, and in fact, because of the fog I didn't get at far as the reservoir, but took my shots on Reservoir Road instead.

Here is a video of before and after the shots.

I hope you can all take part in the 4am Project next Saturday! :)

My Rhubarb Radio Interview

A few weeks ago I was invited onto the Sunday Social show on Rhubarb Radio by presenters Mark Steadman and Michael Grimes to talk about the 4am Project.

Thanks for inviting me, guys! I really enjoyed my first radio experience.

Mark had kindly edited the show, and you can now listed to a 5 minute podcast of my interview where I talk about the origins of the 4am Project.

Karen Strunks on Rhubarb Radio by podmark

If you can't see the player, please visit the podcast website.

Me (Karen Strunks) with presenter Michael Grimes

Presenter Mark Steadman

The BBC have just written a feature about the project. If you would like to take a look, please visit their website.

Thanks to everyone for their support! Only 10 days to go until 4th April. Remember to tell your friends and families! :)

Do you twitter? Join the 4am Project and come and say hello!

Still here - Logos, Videos, Photos!

Well, my resolve to update my blog once a week didn't hold out long, but not without good reason I'm pleased to say! More on that later, first of all, have you seen my new logo?


A huge thank you to Matt from Big Media Design for coming up with a great package including logo, business card, letter head and watermark. Matt came up with several designs, all of which I really liked which made deciding on one really hard! He took every thing I had said about the possible design into account and I am really pleased with my new logo! If you need your logo updating or some other design work done, do give Matt a call.





























As promised here is the video from the Birmingham Twitter Flash Mob. I'm in the red coat, and my voice isn't normally so croaky, but I was just getting over a cold. Thanks again to everyone who supported the flash mob, who helped spread the word and who took part on the day! A big thank you to Mark Steadman from Bluemilkshake for filming the event and for doing a top notch job editing the video.







Onto the reason why there has been a lack of posts recently - the 4am Project! Since it's launch, I have been spending every spare minute on the project. I didn't realise how much there would be to do, and I've been working hard at getting the word out. It's quite a big job seeing as it's a global project as you can imagine! So, I'm still here, but if I am a little quieter than normal it's because my head is down and I'm working extra hard. I've even made a point of not making any more social arrangements until after the 4th April, so if I decline your invitations, it's not because I don't want to, it's just that I need to dedicate every spare minute to the project.

Fortunately, I've now got some help! Rewired PR who are based in Birmingham have kindly given their support to the 4am Project and are doing a wonderful job of getting the word out there. Thank you Rewired!



There is a Press Release for the 4am Project, so if you are in the media and you are interested in the project, please have a look.

So many people have helped in so many ways with the project. After the 4th April I will write a post thanking everybody. Your support has been amazing and it's very much appreciated.

If you like the project and would like to tell people about it, there is a clever countdown clock that you can embed onto your blog or website.




Just click 'embed this code onto your site' and you will see the html.

So, if my blog posts seem a bit erratic at the moment, you know why. I've even been dreaming about the 4am Project!


I hope you can take part on the 4th April and help build a global picture of the world at 4am!

4am Project On The Radio - Sunday 1st March

Tune in ONLINE tomorrow - Sunday 1st of March - Rhubarb Radio - from 1pm GMT

Just click the Listen Now button on the top right hand side of the page and listen live!

I’ll be talking about the 4am Project with hosts of Sunday Social show, Mark Steadman and Micheal Grimes.

Hope you will join me!