Shantanu Starick: "How I Went Two Years Without Spending Any Money"

Creatives are rewarded for being specialized: a wedding photographer makes more money than a just a plain photographer. So why aren't the jack-of-all-trades rewarded? In this 99U talk, photographer Shantanu Starick shares how removing money out of the creative process led to a wider array of jobs and a much more fulfilling freelance career.

About Shantanu Starick
Shantanu Starick (website) is an international photographer challenging the way creative professionals work in a modern environment.



In 2012 he started The Pixel Trade project (website), a photographic journey to all seven continents of the globe. In exchange for life’s basic necessities Starick trades his skills as a professional photographer, reintroducing the bartering system into day-to-day life. No currency, no contracts, only his camera and an eager smile.



Halfway through the second year of the project Starick has set foot on four continents capturing leading designers and chefs in New York City, chewed on mangrove worms with Indigenous communities in rural Australia, traversed Irish farmlands with an injured ankle and came face to face with Atlas Mountain goats, who strongly suggested they share his fruit salad.








Text and video via 99U | Images via shantanustarick.com