Every day, 5 a.m. passes me by. While I am asleep, there is a world that I am completely detached from. When I begin settling in for the evening, there are countless others getting themselves ready to start their day.

From bakers and farmers to gas station attendants and factory line workers, we live in a world that never truly sleeps. Productivity and services continue to be provided while many of us are asleep and dreaming. When I wake up in the morning, I can, without a second thought, enjoy freshly made bread, produce picked hours earlier, or even a newly paved road.

The 5 a.m. project developed out of an interest to step outside of my 9-to-5 world; to document places, people, and livelihoods at—or as close as possible to—5 a.m. The world may look very different when not congested with people and cars, but that does not mean we have all settled in for sleep.

Welcome to 5 a.m.

I'm an Ontario-based photographer and social worker living in Kitchener-Waterloo. As a photographer, I tend to focus on personal projects and I have a specific interest in work/industry as my subject matter. 5 a.m. is an on-going project that started in 2013. For obvious reasons, no new work was created in 2020... you can find me on Instagram, which is linked down below, and I hope you have enjoyed this small collection of work from this series!

More info: bdouglasphotography.com | Instagram