Five years ago, Amanda Taylor, an English teacher based in London, launched the hashtag #peoplewalkingpastwalls. Since then, it has been used on over 90,000 photos shared by Instagrammers around the world, depicting strangers strolling past urban walls.
Taylor explains the inspiration behind the hashtag: 'I was into street art and wanted to share it on my feed while adding my own twist. This was the perfect way.' She often spends up to an hour waiting for the right person to pass, finding the anticipation and timing 'exciting'.
The hashtag has attracted contributors from Reykjavik to Shanghai. Each week, Taylor and fellow curator @maco_kirahvi select the best images to feature on the dedicated account @peoplewalkingpastwalls. Taylor notes that while some shots are lucky, others require skill to match a person's clothing and stride with the wall behind them.
'Aesthetically, combining a plain, colourful, or street-art-covered wall with a walking figure in the foreground is very appealing,' she says. The trend continues to grow, with new photos added daily from cities worldwide.
