Whenever I ask anyone who I should meet in New York, they all point me to Wesley Verhoeve who is a Brooklyn-based creative who takes great photos, writes equally wonderful essays and during the day runs handmade men’s accessories and home goods company GNTLMN. Despite being recommended by one and all, I am yet to meet him — mostly because whenever I am in New York, he is traveling to some fun place, meeting people as creative as him. He is on a 12-city tour of creative cities across the US and spends time with the local creative community, and capturing interesting creatives in portrait and writing. They include everyone from visual artists to craftspeople, food and beverage makers, musicians, entrepreneurs, and more.

This project of his is called Oneofmany and it is wonderful. His photo essays are pretty amazing and deliver on the original premise of his effort — “inspire independent creatives/small business owners, and those aspiring to be.” I have been following his efforts on the website, on Instagram and on other places on the Internet. It has been a great project to follow as it has exposed me to people I would have never really met in real life. He surfaces stories of people who don’t fit the normal mold of creative. Think of Oneofmany as a cultural/creative bouillabaisse. Take a look! 

“It’s hard work, especially on days where I interview/shoot ten people, but I definitely feel lucky to be doing it and getting to share all these people’s stories,” he wrote to me in an email from Seattle earlier this morning. “I’m still looking for pubs to get in touch with to either write a piece for/give yet-to-be-published portraits to, or who wants to write about the project.” Any takers?

PS: I for one would be keen on learning about how he is running his business remotely while on the go from all these places. I can’t even imagine the kind of rigor and discipline one needs to do both these things.

Photo by Helena Price via Helena Price.com