On a quiet corner in Chinatown, Honolulu, as the sunlight slips between the aging brick buildings, Anthony Consillio stands still. He doesn’t pace. He doesn’t rush. He barely moves at all. His camera rests at his side until the light shifts just enough to turn a simple shadow into a dynamic shape.
“There are two methods [to street photography],” he says. “Hunting and fishing. The hunters are the ones that walk the streets, constantly looking for people and chasing them down. For me, I wait. If I don’t find anything, I’ll just move to another [place].”
The fisherman moves from spot to spot, chasing the light and observing where it hits the walls and how shadows carve silhouettes. When a subject walks in the line of sight, he snaps away and, hopefully, reels in frames of a digital story.
That love of the craft and consistent practice have become the foundation of his 20+ years as a local photographer and has shaped an award-winning body of work that now stands among the respected examples of Hawaiʻi’s modern street photography.
FROM FIRST CLICK TO FULL-TIME
Growing up, Consillio witnessed how a camera worked as a tool that told stories, having had a father who worked as a photographer in the military. Consillio didn’t immediately gravitate to photography until he became a father himself.
“I picked up a camera because my kid was born,” he says. “I started playing around and found out I have an eye for it.”
His first-ever camera was a first-generation Pentax, which captured his initial subjects that included his son, landscapes, flowers, and waves. The 1988 Leilehua High School grad studied art in college, sharpening his sense of composition, color theory, etc. Most of what he learned, however, came through hands-on trial and error. Even with the basics down, he knew the importance of recognizing where he could grow.
“You can learn the fundamentals,” he says. “But in anything creative, a lot of rules are meant to be broken.”
Consillio’s professional career unfolded organically through word of mouth, leading him into real estate photography and 12 years in the wedding industry. He then became a full-time photographer for the Honolulu Star-Advertiser and MidWeek, where he photographed community events, business leaders, and public figures across Oʻahu, building his reputation and portfolio.
THROUGH HIS LENS
On top of a wide range of corporate experience under his belt, his love for candid photography never strayed.
“I like when I’m off to the side and catching people interacting where they don’t even know I’m there. Those are my favorite shots. Those are the ones that a lot of people don’t think they like until they see it,” he says. “I like shooting things in the community like a kid’s football game or people in a community garden. I like being a fly on the wall, which is why I like street photography so much.”
While he does shoot islandwide (including Hale‘iwa, Waikīkī, Ala Moana Center, Ka Makana Ali‘i), Chinatown remains his playground of choice.
“I like it because it has a lot of old architecture, brickwork, and textures,” he says. “When the sun hits the [walls], you see all the outlines. You get this juxtaposition of old and new. A lot of character in people’s faces.”
Unlike downtown, where tall buildings block sunlight for much of the day, Chinatown transforms continuously. “I can stay in one spot all day, and it’s new every time.”
Consillio’s fisherman philosophy applies not just to patience but to emotional resilience.
“There are a lot of days where I don’t find anything, where I think I got the winning shot, and then I go home, and it’s crap,” he says. His over two decades of work taught him that caps for creative reps don’t exist. “If I don’t find anything, I chalk it up as exercise.”
Exercising included evolving the types of camera he uses. Over the years, he moved from the Pentax to Canon and eventually to the Fujifilm world. Today, he works with multiple bodies including the X-T4, X-T5, X-Pro2, and X100v, along with more than a dozen lenses.
A RECOGNIZED VISION
In 2019, Consillio’s street photography work was selected in the juried 11th Annual Contemporary Photography in Hawaiʻi exhibition by Pacific New Media at The ARTS at Marks Garage. Out of 400 submissions from over 100 photographers, 49 images were selected, including two of his own. His photograph won the Pacific New Media Juror’s Award.
He’s entered into multiple exhibitions every year since then and has had over a dozen pieces into local and international showcases. That included the 2022 FujiFanBoys 4th Annual Best of Show, a global photo competition for Fujifilm users who get their winning photos exhibited in seven cities: Singapore, Jakarta, London, Bangkok, Dubai, Manila and Ho Chi Minh. Out of more than 10,000 submissions, Consillio’s photo (taken with the X100v) won 2nd place in the X100 Series division.
Most recently, his work was featured in the 2025 Rivers to Richards: Documentary Photography in Hawaiʻi exhibition, where the Hawaiʻi State Foundation on Culture and the Arts purchased three of his photographs, and where he received the Art Source and Designs Framing Award.
How did it feel to have his work acknowledged?
“It feels great because the jurors are photographers or professionals like museum curators,” he says. “So if they’re picking it, then it kind of validates you a bit. You’re amongst a lot of other photographers that put out a lot of good work, so when you’re sharing wall space with them, it makes you feel good.”
ISLAND INFLUENCE
Being from Hawaiʻi, Consillio often has people assume that his photos would mostly consist of warm sunsets, crashing waves, or sandy beaches. His heightened exposure of the local streets is a reminder that Hawaiʻi’s landscape offers more than one type of scenery.
“Within 10 minutes, you can go from Chinatown to Waikīkī and shoot two totally different environments. Regardless of your style, Hawaiʻi has something for everybody,” he says. “Where else can you go and see different types of geography in one small little footprint? It’s just beautiful. There’s always something to shoot.”
The numerous exhibitions he’s attended also brought him in contact with other dedicated local street photographers, and together they formed the HNL Street Collective with a goal to get like-minded street photographers in Hawaiʻi together and showcase the state as a viable destination for street photography.
BEYOND THE FRAME
Today, Consillio is committed to spreading knowledge of street photography and helping other artists sharpen their skills, especially now when there are more street photographers compared to five to ten years ago. He’s become a Fujifilm delegate, a role that allows him to lead school photo walks, workshops, and various community events throughout Honolulu.
Before going out for your reps, Consillio has one practical reminder: “Invest in the lens, not the camera. People think they need the best camera but your lens will last 10 to 12 years.” If you just have an iPhone, that’s good too. He says, “Whatever camera you have is the best camera to have.”
Above all, he encourages experimentation without fear.
“Make mistakes. You’ll learn more from making mistakes than from getting lucky. Take 10,000 photos and have your 10,001st be the best photo you’ve ever taken,” he says. “Just have fun. Get out, shoot, and explore.”
Exploring is second nature to Consillio. As light and shadows trade places on the streets of Chinatown, he continues his practice of patience, simply observing, waiting, and translating ordinary moments into beautiful stills. Although not every day yields a catch, each day offers the possibility of one. His work is rooted not in chasing what’s there but in honoring what’s fleeting. As long as the light keeps shifting and stories keep unfolding, the fisherman never stops casting.
