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Photographer Takes Pictures of People He’s Met through Global Couch Surfing

In Italian photographer Gabriele Galimberti's series Couchsurfing, he catalogs the stories of people who take part in the CouchSurfing community. Unfamiliar with what that is? CouchSurfing is an online network of over 7 million members throughout 100,000 cities that connects travelers with hosts who are willing to let them stay in their home. Through this global non-profit organization, people meet and trade hospitality, which gives them a unique cultural experience they wouldn't have otherwise. This community of kindness and curiosity is further fostered by the fact that CouchSurfing prohibits the exchange of money between either party. The length of a stay can vary; some guests may live in a host's home for a long time, while others only a day.

Galimberti's intriguing images capture the unique relationships that this practice promotes. He personally has traveled around the world through CouchSurfing and hosted dozens of guests in his home in Tuscany. It's led to a variety of interesting experiences that range from staying in fairytale villa in Texas to sharing a 10 square-meter room in Sichuan. Galimberti also has been welcomed by a Ukranian couple that informed him they were “house nudists,” and appropriately greeted him naked. Whatever the situation, the photographs illustrate the true essence of travel – getting to know strangers and places in a meaningful way.

Above: Zhang Yue, Chongqing, China

Lena, Odeass, Ukraine

Berglind Gunnarsdttir, Reykjavik, Iceland

Ratu Saverio Selio Ralulu Nasila, Namaka, Viti Levu, The Fiji Islands

Brenda Fernandez, Manila, The Philippines

Lamine, Guediawaye, Senegal

Buckley Barratt, American Fork, Utah

Catalina, Bogota, Colombia

Maria Armas, Nopaltepec, Mexico

Psam, Stone Town, Zanzibar

Leticia Massula, Sao Paulo, Brazil

Kenias Hichaaba, Maun, Botswana

Gabriele Galimberti website
via [Feature Shoot]

Sara Barnes

Sara Barnes is a Staff Editor at My Modern Met, Manager of My Modern Met Store, and co-host of the My Modern Met Top Artist Podcast. As an illustrator and writer living in Seattle, she chronicles illustration, embroidery, and beyond through her blog Brown Paper Bag and Instagram @brwnpaperbag. She wrote a book about embroidery artist Sarah K. Benning titled 'Embroidered Life' that was published by Chronicle Books in 2019. Sara is a graduate of the Maryland Institute College of Art. She earned her BFA in Illustration in 2008 and MFA in Illustration Practice in 2013.
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