In Gabe Wasylko’s mind, there’s a photography revolution happening in Cleveland. And he’s more than happy to be on the front lines. Wasylko’s contribution to the revolution started in 2020 when he assigned himself the goal of posting one photo a day to Twitter.
And boy did he.
Over the past year, Wasylko’s images of Cleveland’s skyline, architecture and hidden gems have filled lock screens across Northeast Ohio. In May, he used those images to help nab a job as Destination Cleveland’s social media manager. We spoke with Wasylko and two other Cleveland photographers about their favorite photos.
Gabe Wasylko
This photo allowed Wasylko to check something off his bucket list. “I had always wanted to capture lighting,” he says.
One day in October, just the right kind of weather hit, but he didn’t have a tripod with him. So he propped his camera on a railing, set a timer, covered his camera with his jacket to keep it dry and waited. Once lighting struck, he was amazed with the picture staring back at him.
“It was kind of a happy accident,” he says.
Erik Drost
Drost — who typically goes out to shoot photos every weekend — took this photo at Lakewood Park at the end of January.
“I like to get my photography stuff done early in the morning, so I catch a lot of sunrises,” he says. “The lake was just starting to freeze over, and it was just a really calm morning.”
For Drost, the photo is just one part of Northeast Ohio’s dynamic landscape. “Cleveland is such a diverse place when it comes to layouts,” Drost says. “You have The Flats, which is a little grittier, and then you have University Circle, which is kind of like an arts district, and then you have the Metroparks, too.”
Wil Lindsey
Lindsey, who’s done work with Destination Cleveland along with the NFL and Playhouse Square, took this photo at sunset at Edgewater Park in October of last year. In order to add his own twist on a fairly common photo (everyone’s taken a photo of the sunset at Edgewater), he set his exposure for three minutes while also using a neutral-density filter to help the light shine through. The result is an eye-popping picture of Cleveland at dusk.
“I spent a lot of my childhood at Edgewater Park, so I like being able to capture its growth,” Lindsey says. “It’s so gorgeous.”
While this photo focuses on Cleveland’s jaw-dropping sunsets, Lindsey equally enjoys Cleveland’s architecture.
“Since Cleveland’s situated on the river you can really find a lot of cool angles throughout the area,” he says. “There are so many different ways you can mix together views of Cleveland.”
