What started as a small gathering of photographers exploring Savannah’s streets has grown into a thriving creative community. Savannah Photo Club ain’t just about taking pictures — it’s about collaboration, encouragement, and breaking down barriers in the art world. Founded on the principles of accessibility and mutual support, the club now attracts dozens of photographers for each photo walk, helping members hone their skills, land professional gigs, and most importantly, build lasting connections.

I met with Savannah Photo Club’s three co-founders — Josh Lindsey, Randall Patrick, and Daniel White — about the club’s growth, its impact on Savannah’s artistic landscape, and their dreams for the future. From first-time photographers to seasoned pros, everyone has a place here. And as they put it, there’s no gatekeeping — just learning, sharing, framing the present moment, and capturing the beauty of Savannah, one photo at a time.

First up, I asked where everyone was from, what brought ‘em to Savannah, and how old they are.

Randall Patrick: I'm from Maryland. I moved here from Baltimore City. I grew up a little bit south of that, but spent some time in the city. I miss it a lot, honestly. It’s a really great place. I moved to Savannah about three and a half years ago, just to try something new, really. Adventure. I love going on an adventure and seeing where it takes me, and I'm still here, so it's been good. I'm 31.

Daniel White: I’m from North Carolina. I moved here two years ago from Greensboro, but I was born and raised in High Point. I moved here blindly. I was going to NYC but then my roommate convinced me to visit Savannah and check it out, so I moved here after visiting once or twice. I’m 34.

Josh Lindsey: I’m from Atlanta. I’ve been down here for nine years. I moved here to work. I'm an engineer, so [my job] brought down here. I’m 33.

Trelani Michelle: What inspired y'all to start the Savannah Photo Club?

JL: Passion and community. All three of us are quirky, weird, normal, nerdy people when it comes to cameras. A lot of people can't take that, but we found that commonality in each other that we can dive deep on film, more digital or something intricate with photography, and that kind of recognition is hard, and when you find friends like that, you wanna keep that. So, you know, Randall having an amazing, amazing community of friends at PERC; Daniel, having an amazing community that he’s been able to establish after he came to Savannah; and me, along with my community as well, we were thinking, like, if we take our personalities and interject that into photography with our communities, we can create something special and pull more people together.

DW: Shout out to Josh, though, because Josh is being humble right now. Me and Randall absolutely are a part of this, for sure, and we definitely take accountability for things we do with the club, but Josh is the community person. Specifically, Josh brought this idea to me at his Park Vibes event, another event that he facilitates. He actually came to me with the idea of starting Savannah Photo Club. And Josh's a doer, which is great for me because I can be bad at doing that stuff, and he just makes it happen. So, Randall and I definitely, you know, we're definitely a big part of it. People call us The Big Three sometimes in passing at the Club, but I want to give it to Josh for really spearheading this whole thing.

RP: Me and Josh met at PERC, where I work. We just got to chatting, sitting at the bar, and got to know each other and started talking photos. So the way a lot of us met was just so organic and felt like, oh, we all do this thing, wouldn't it be cool to see that grow and Josh has taken this small kind of idea and just really made it something insane that we never really thought it would turn into. It's really cool.

DW: It was maybe 5 – 6 people when we first started, and it just blossomed organically. Through the power of all of us, I think. Us meeting is crazy because we come from three different spaces in life. And to find this commonality and something that we love and are passionate about, you know, as photography goes, and it's just all amazing.

TM: Josh is an engineer. What are the other differences?

DW: I was a full-time photographer. For many years, that was my profession. I switched it up a bit last year, but my background was this…I mean, Josh, I would say I mean, you do professional shots too, but more of a hobbyist kind of thing?

JL: For sure. I would definitely say I am less of a photographer. Those two are more photographers and I’m more hobbyist. I think I'm definitely privileged to do a lot of what I want. I can be quirky and nerdy and just do crazy stuff. There are lots of people who do weddings and that's like the creme de la creme. That's like surgery for photographers. I'm not at that level.

RP: I hate when he says that.

JL: I do lots of film, lots of artistic stuff, stuff that I just come up with in my head. So yeah, I definitely learn from them and their photographic backgrounds ‘cause they've been doing it a lot longer than me.

TM: Randall, why you hate when he say that?

RP: Because he has a beautiful, beautiful repertoire of work that just speaks for itself, and he downplays himself and doesn't call himself a photographer when indeed he is and needs to notice that about himself.

DW: Yes, he’s a fantastic photographer. I didn't mean ‘hobbyist’ in a negative way. I mean, I came from a world of making money from taking photos, whereas Josh made me love the process of it without thinking about money. You know, like, I'm doing it just for the love of it now. Seeing Josh is doing this stuff, literally, because he loves it has made me kind of re-ramp my love for this medium, honestly. I came from more of a business perspective when I first met Josh, but now I'm seeing it more of just having really amazing and fun times without expectations of me getting paid for it.

TM: Yeah, that's important when it comes to turning passions into careers. Even me as a writer, once money became a part of it, your brain can become wired to always think how you can monetize an idea or a moment. When did the Savannah Photo Club become official?

DW: November 2023. We had our one-year walk not long ago.

JL: Randy is the manager at PERC, so that was definitely the inaugural place. We started there in November. I think the first one, like Daniel said, had a couple people. The second one had probably about 10 – 15 people. That was the one that we took a group picture right in front of PERC, sitting on these little stairs, and we're like, this thing is kind of growing. Then we created the Instagram and then it just kind of catapults and explodes. People are like, you know what, I kind of want to get up in the morning, drink some coffee, and walk around with some strangers.

DW: That’s literally what it is. It’s all about connection and networking, and taking photos is great too. We all love that, but just having common people around us, walking around and spreading ideas and techniques and experiences is something that is a very awesome and amazing experience every time.

TM: That’s so important. Social media can be amazing. It connects people, but it also divides us and a lot of people spend so much time on it because we’re lonely and craving community. We have to find more ways to be together in person and in meaningful ways. Y’all checking all those boxes. The bio on the Instagram page says “all shooters are welcome.” So I can can pull up with my phone camera?

RP: Absolutely you can come with that. Not to speak for you, Daniel, but Daniel is a fucking wizard with that phone camera. I tell him this all the time, because I try to use it and it doesn't look anything like he can do it. It just boggles my mind. So, yes, 100% percent phone. It's still a camera. It's the same thing.

DW: I always say the best camera is the one that you have with you, and you usually have your phone with you. As much as I love my gear, I'm not really a super gearhead, but I do love my equipment that I've acquired. I love that I can start with my phone and see something in the distance or something around me that looks picturesque, and to be able to just take a photo and edit it right there in my hands is just amazing. I encourage people to use their phones, honestly.

JL: Can I echo Randall's sentiment? Because Daniel is downplaying it. We recently had a photo swap and Daniel brought envelopes full of 50 photos that he had taken and printed all from his iPhone and you wouldn't know it. They were just, like, super high quality. I have some on my fridge and in my office and stuff, but you just looking at these photos and you’re just like, ‘brother, how’d you…’ And he’s just like ‘iPhone, iPhone, I did it on the iPhone.’

RP: That’s how he says it too.

TM: All ages are welcome?

DW: Yes!

TM: Even children?

DW: Yeah! There’s teenagers in the group.

TM: Take me through a typical third Sunday. Where do y'all meet up? What do you do? How long are y'all out there?

JL: We have a 10-year-old mascot. Shoutout to Cato. One couple brings their son to all of the photo walks. Another guy brings his three daughters who have very expensive cameras, and they’re running around snapping photos. All of us get there at random different times —

TM: — at PERC?

JL: It’s the third Sunday of every month. We go to a different coffee shop every month. We try to do that to keep the photo walk a little bit fresh, and also to patronize different parts of the community. I recently found out that we're averaging between $700 and $800 added to the community for that hour. We've been trying to collect data, so that has been tremendous. We switched to Sweet Patricia’s one month and sold out their entire food case for that day. That's what we try to do.

But as far as a typical Sunday, it starts at nine. We drink coffee from nine until ten, and then at ten, me or Randall or Daniel will gather everyone around, we'll set the intentions for the day: ‘We’re walking, it’s a slow walk. If you stop and see something, take some photos. If you see somebody you haven’t met, say hey to them.’ One of us always gives a little speech about not getting hit by cars. That's kind of our rule number one. And then we start walking, and one of us leads the group, one of us is in the back, one of us is in the middle, and all three of us have different experiences that we bring to different parts of the walk that people of the group can come to us and get from.

RP: I get bummed out because I work in coffee, so I gotta be there on weekends a lot, so unfortunately I miss a lot of them, which just bums me out. What I love most about being there is like… I don't even really take photos when I'm on that photo walk. It's kind of rare that I do. It’s just the opportunity to hang out with people. That's more precious to me than the photographs. I’m kind of like a lone photographer, if you will. I love to go on my own terms by myself and get into a zone. It's kind of like my meditation, really. It's hard to do with a big group of people, but I love that we get together. Now when I'm out and about, I'll end up running into another photographer in the group. It's everywhere. It’s infectious, it's great.

DW: What I love about it, too, is that people who are very introverted are in the group and this is, like, one of their favorite times in the month. They've said that verbatim. Being with these like-minded people, on these walks has, you know, brought them outside to just enjoy community. That itself, to me, is a win — for us to provide that comfort for someone to just come outside and meet people, because it's hard meeting people these days. Like Randall, I don’t take a lot of photos. I have a little point and shoot film camera and I’ll just come and just talk, and just hear experiences and stories, and just connect with people. It’s just as simple as that. It’s a beautiful thing.

TM: That is. Can you share a standout moment or project from the club that really reflects its impact?

RP: That’s a tough one.

DW: There’s so many abundant Sundays (laughs). I will say, I think one of the coolest ones is when we were returning to PERC and… I think it was the one-year anniversary walk, wasn’t it?

RP: There’s no doubt that’s the first one that I think of.

DW: Just seeing where we were back then. I can remember, it was like six people. To see the abundance of the one-year walk was something that was so surreal to me. There were like 70 people there.

RP: Between 70 and 80.

JL: We’re averaging about 70 per walk these days.

DW: People are hyped about it. I love when people tell me about it. I don’t need to say that I started it. I’m just like ‘yeah, I’ll come out.’

JL: That’s the craziest thing. People will come up to you while you're wearing a camera, like ‘hey, you look kind of cool. You should join the Photo Club.’ And you’re just like, ‘cool, I'll join.’

TM: It’s free, right?

RP: Absolutely.

TM: Has anyone shared that they feel they’ve grown as a photographer since joining the Club?

JL: For sure. I can think of at least four or five instances. We’ve had five photographers published in a magazine since joining the Photo Club. We’ve had three other photographers start shooting weddings. We've had a minimum of two other photographers start second-shooting for other photographers at weddings. We have one photographer that gotta proposition to do a photo shoot for a representative that's running for office. We have a group chat and the information is flying!

TM: In my imagination, how that happens is by giving tips on technique while you’re out on walks and referring each other for opportunities. Does that sound right?

JL: You’re exactly right. Someone will see it through social media. I do think this is the one benefit of social media. Social media is the devil. Us posting pictures and our methodology of collaboration allows us to hit, on average, 40,000 people per month. So that is a high number in Savannah, and us collaborating, it allows us to get the word out and once we get the word out, they go back and they see Randall's page or Daniel's page, and then they come to the photo walk and they say, ‘hey, I saw you took this picture. What camera did you use? What film did you use? What settings did you use?’ And they get the answer. There’s no gatekeeping. They keep coming back for questions and they produce the pictures, and then Randall's like, ‘hey, that's great. You did good.’ It just creates a cycle, just like that.

DW: Absolutely, absolutely. No gatekeeping is my number one thing that I love about the group. In the group chat or Instagram chat, there’s always a bajillion answers that people have for anyone that needs anything. Some of these people should be teaching in schools. It’s insane.

RP: The equal playing field of this group, I feel like it's a rarity where you have your seasoned professionals that have been doing it for a decade and then your ‘I just bought a camera. I want to try this.’ And everyone comes together and no one's too cool to talk to somebody, so it really feels like it breaks a lot of those barriers that we feel on social media where you might look at a photographer's work and think ‘I’ll never be able to talk to them.’ That just doesn't exist here and it kind of feels like, how did we get so lucky?

JL: We have worldwide published photographers, someone else was invited to an Apple event, another shoots with the paper, one with Savannah Now. It gets pretty wild, but it lets you know that humans are just humans, regardless of the title that they have they on.

DW: And you’ll have a photographer with all these awards and publications teaching someone how to set up their basic settings. I love seeing the two worlds collide, or two different journeys in their artistic career, you know, and that is what this group is about. We're gonna help anybody and get you as far into it as you want.

TM: Since none of y’all from Savannah, if you consider the people here, the landscape, the energy, what makes Savannah such a compelling place to do this?

DW: One thing, I think, is because of SCAD, there’s an abundance of artists. I’m not discouraged by the fact that there’s a bajillion photographers within a five-mile radius of me. I love the different perspectives. I lived in Greensboro, and there’s a lot of artists there as well.

JL: I’d love to hear Randall’s answer, because he recently had the opportunity to go to one of the photographic capitals of the world and he basically said no.

RP: I was thinking about moving to New York City in a few months but ended up changing my mind about it because of how strong the community is here. I think back to my time being a photographer in Baltimore, for example. I think the bigger the city, it seems like there's a lot more gatekeeping and pretentiousness and all that stuff. And when I moved here, I just really never got that. It was, like, wide-open arms as soon as I stepped foot here — whether that be photographers or just my neighbors. There's so much richness in Savannah, that’s about family. It's about who you know. It's about getting together. It's all those things. Savannah feels like such a tangible love. It's just a truly lovely place to be, and I think it's how all of us got to be so close with each other, you know?

JL: I whole-heartedly agree. Coming from Atlanta, Atlanta doesn't seem tangible. It’s huge, it's big. It's one of the big metropolitan areas, but I do think people like us three, and I hate to say this — here comes the non-humble Josh — but I think people like us thrive in cities like Savannah. With our gregariousness, our loquaciousness, and desire to communicate and talk, and our authenticity to be ourselves. Daniel always wears mismatched socks. Randall always wears cut off shorts and pants with a cool hat. I'm always wearing orange glasses, and it's authentic, and I think places like Savannah and the community that we are creating are real examples of real life that you really, really can put your faith into as opposed to something that's fake.

TM: Y’all bump into any challenges yet?

JL: One thing that we wrestle with a lot is, lots of companies come to us with opportunities to make money or to create an opportunity to get the members to pay. And I'm not a fan of it. I’m not a fan of this model of making the consumer pay. I want the big person to pay for the consumer to be there, and that's a huge disconnect. I want all these companies to pay for us to be in their space as opposed to us paying to be in theirs.

RP: And we had some real bumps in the beginning, but it all comes down to protecting our group and the safety of the people there. We want to make sure everyone is there with good intentions and for community. So we've had to deal with telling people they can’t come back. These things happen, and it’s unfortunate about the world, but we're not hesitant to deal with those things in order to protect the people.

JL: We have guidelines that we can and do enforce.

TM: I was gonna ask where you might see the club in five years, but I hate even getting that question. Whenever someone asks me, I’m like, it’ll be a surprise to both of us. So I’ll ask, instead, if there are any dream projects or collaborations.

JL: So Savannah has a public art plan, and they're in the committees right now and that should end in October. I've been going as a representative of the Savannah Photo Club. Savannah wants to become an arts city. I think Savannah Photo Club has some of the densest population of artists in Savannah, so I think we should definitely be a caveat for consideration when it comes to art. And I want us to put all of our photographs and our artwork all over Savannah—on the streets, on the sidewalks, on the curbs, on hotel buildings, on Burger Kings. On every building that's flat and gets a little bit of sunlight, I wanna put a piece of art. And Savannah Photo Club can do it.

DW: I applaud Josh on doing that. He’s a man of action. When he went and did the piece at Forsyth Park on the basketball court, he put three or four large prints on the fence of the basketball court. I never thought about that in my life. He said he was going to do it and he did it. I love seeing work in unconventional places.

TM: What was one of the most memorable photos you've ever taken and why does it stand out?

RP: I have a print of it in my house. It's this man at this laundromat in the middle of Georgia. It's like a super rundown laundromat, and he’s just waiting for his clothes to be done.

DW: When you started saying that Randall, I knew that was the one. I love that photo.

RP: There’s something about that photo that really spoke to me. It reminded me of my childhood. I had a laundromat that was super close to where I grew up, and this guy just seemed like a character from my own childhood story. And I think that’s, like, just the beauty of what photography has become to me. It just makes this world… you see it as a child does. Everything seems so new and beautiful, even if it doesn't look that beautiful, but you're just curious. Everything becomes like a playground and you're just soaking every bit of it in. To some, this might just be, like, a dude sitting down at a laundromat, but, I hope it speaks, you know, to the soul a little bit. And this one does that for me, so that's why it's printed up big on my wall.

DW: So my grandmother has the only copy of this photo, and I had it at a show in North Carolina before I moved. It was actually a goodbye show from North Carolina. It’s a picture of my grandfather, and he’s passed now. It’s when he had dementia, and the photo’s called “Sunset.” It’s a photo of him in his chair that he always sits in, even from my youth. It’s the same chair. He’s almost immobile, but that’s a routine that he kinda kept until he passed. He sat in that chair almost everyday.

I used to go over there as a kid for dinner during sunset, and he would sit in that chair all the time. At the end of his life, he was very tired and sleepy all the time. There’s a photo of him just kind of passed out in the chair and kinda peaceful. I put that in a show before I left North Carolina. That's probably one of my favorite photos I've taken. Mostly because, until that point, I didn't realize that I could photograph not-great moments, you know. Unfortunately, he was near to passing, but there's a beauty in also photographing the grief and the despair and all that stuff. I’ve photographed two funerals so far and I’ve been hired to do end-of-life sessions for people. But that’s the photo that flashes in my brain when you ask that question.

JL: For me, I started differently. In photography, there's a digital versus film world a little bit, but my favorite is this picture. I went hiking on my honeymoon to a national park. I’m hiking and I take a picture of this landscape distance, and the film, it just turned out so beautiful and so colorful. And film is a little special because it's like you can almost reach out and grab it all the time because it's a little bit different. And the depth of the photo and the colors, I was like that’s special. You'll never be able to recreate that again.

TM: I love y’all’s genuine admiration of each other’s work. What makes a photo good to you? Is it how it hits you? Is it the people’s perception, or reception, of it? There’s no judgement in that.

RP: There's a billion things to say on that. It’s gotta hit you with some sort of feeling. Like, there's a softness to it that speaks to you or there's something more rough around the edges to it that’s also giving you something to take away. Art should be something where you inevitably walk away with something that you didn't have before you saw it. So I hope photographs speak to people in that way. So yeah, that's what it is for me.

DW: I like when I can tell someone shot with their heart and not their eyes. That’s why I love going to gallery spaces. I love seeing people's personal projects, because, to me, that's like coming from deep within. And that’s no shame to commercial photographers. I find beauty in that as well, but that's why I really love street photography. You're getting really raw and organic moments that sometimes can't be replicated. That’s kind of the route that I’m leaning towards now, leaving the commercial stuff and going that route. But I love seeing a photograph that I can see that came from within you, that no one else can almost even redo. The motion and the intention behind it.

JL: This is such a deep and open-ended question. I think multiple things. One, I think photography is the one passion that I have that I don’t have to consider other people. Every other thing in my life, I have to consider other people. Photography is the one place where I can shut my mouth and not worry about what anybody thinks. So if I'm taking photos with other people’s consideration, it's less fun for me. Number two, there are amazing artists who do coloring books and they color in the lines and they do amazing work, but then there's artists that create from a blank canvas. To me, that's the difference between studio work and non-studio work. You can make studio work that's absolutely beautiful and amazing, but it is just a studio. You get to control everything. There's lights and boundaries, but it can be complex and as beautiful as you want. But sometimes you’re just outside. So, to me, the photo that looks good is the photo that makes you, the photographer, pause and think.

TM: I love that, especially the part of not having to worry about what nobody else got to say or think about it. I think everybody deserves to have something like that in their life. Something fulfilling and nourishing that you ain't got to worry about nobody else's gaze or take. Last question, if you could photograph any subject, person, or moment — past, present, or future, real or imagined — what would it be?

JL: Mine is Freaknik in Atlanta. I would’ve wanted to be on the highway when it was shut down and everybody was twerking on the hood of the cars. I just wanted to be at a momentous moment in culture and have that film stock.

DW: I would love to see your photos at a Freaknik! I think clubs are very intimate spaces. I remember growing up, watching Soul Train or old ‘90s dance clubs. People going crazy, no cell phones in sight. I see my parents’ photos of them before they’d go out, what they’re wearing, how in tune they are to where they are, and having a great time. I would have loved to have photographed parties during that era of dance music.

RP: That makes so much sense for you, Daniel. I was thinking hard about this question, but I don't know if I have much of an answer other than, I just like when I capture stuff as the day goes by, like day by day. I don't have a dream time period, place, or dream thing to shoot. I just want to see what's happening today. That's kind of where all my focus is. I go on my walks and I'm like, what's going on today? And that gives me enough. I'm so satisfied with that.

TM: The Buddhists would nod to that. After all, the present moment is all we got.

Follow @savannahphotoclub on Instagram to learn more, and join in on Photowalks, the 3rd Sunday of every month.

###