u/SFEVision

Hi everyone, I am planning a long-term documentary project: a journey entirely on foot starting from Cádiz (Spain), moving along the southern French coast, entering Italy through Genoa, and walking all the way down the country to Messina. It’s about 3,500 km, and I estimate it will take around a year.

Here is the catch: my only currency will be photography. I’ll be shooting street portraits and exchanging them on the spot—delivering both the digital files and a physical print using a portable printer—in barter for a meal, a shower, a ride where walking isn't possible, or a place to sleep.

I’ve already tested this dynamic in Fuerteventura and Gran Canaria, and it worked. In Gran Canaria, after a housing scam, I ended up homeless. I managed to get back on my feet purely through street portraits and shooting local surfers. Out of that rock bottom, a new photographic direction was born, which I call "Senza Fissa Esposizione" (Unfixed Exposure).

This is a raw documentary and human project. For gear, I’m traveling light: a Sony full-frame mirrorless, a 35mm, and a 55mm. No sponsors, no external backing.

I am looking for advice and specific feedback on:

• Anyone who has undertaken similar long-term itinerant or barter-based projects: what advice or tips do you have based on your experience?
• How people in these specific regions (Southern Spain, Southern France, and across Italy from North to South) typically respond to this kind of direct interaction and barter proposal, especially when comparing rural areas to urban centers.

Thanks in advance to anyone who can share relevant feedback.

Hi everyone, I am planning a long-term documentary project: a journey entirely on foot starting from Cádiz (Spain), moving along the southern French coast, entering Italy through Genoa, and walking all the way down the country to Messina. It’s about 3,500 km, and I estimate it will take around a year.

Here is the catch: my only currency will be photography. I’ll be shooting street portraits and exchanging them on the spot—delivering both the digital files and a physical print using a portable printer—in barter for a meal, a shower, a ride where walking isn't possible, or a place to sleep.

I’ve already tested this dynamic in Fuerteventura and Gran Canaria, and it worked. In Gran Canaria, after a housing scam, I ended up homeless. I managed to get back on my feet purely through street portraits and shooting local surfers. Out of that rock bottom, a new photographic direction was born, which I call "Senza Fissa Esposizione" (Unfixed Exposure).

This is a raw documentary and human project. For gear, I’m traveling light: a Sony full-frame mirrorless, a 35mm, and a 55mm. No sponsors, no external backing.

I am looking for advice and specific feedback on:

• Anyone who has undertaken similar long-term itinerant or barter-based projects: what advice or tips do you have based on your experience?
• How people in these specific regions (Southern Spain, Southern France, and across Italy from North to South) typically respond to this kind of direct interaction and barter proposal, especially when comparing rural areas to urban centers.

Thanks in advance to anyone who can share relevant feedback.