Always thinking about looking back
Newsletter 60.
Two years ago, I got canned from a job. Instead of panicking (I did a bit), I looked inward and thought, “What is going to make ME happy?” Tens of thousands of photos later, an investment in a giant printer, and some fairly good knowledge around how ICC profiles work and tips on monitor calibration, and I’m still like a kid in a candy store when I grab my camera and schlepp it wherever I go. Well, it’s not just one camera. It’s like nine different cameras now, all built for different things and different speeds and different interactions with the world.
Part of the process is an obsessiveness with what my archive will look like. Will I have lots of portraits of my kids? (Yes) Will I have lots of photographs of found objects? How many photos will I take out of my car window? Will I ever stop photographing graffiti? (No.)
As I wrote about last week, contemplating legacy makes me think I’m potentially limiting myself to specific outcomes, when the most fun and excitement with photography comes from the spontaneous events and depictions I’m able to capture.
Most weeks, I photograph everything. Cars, bugs, cyclists, waterways, shadows. Everything is up for grabs because there’s potential for anything to be interesting. Like Marcel Duchamp submitting his famous “Fountain”, our submissions into an artistic conversation about what makes for interesting subject matter starts with the courage to submit the artifact. Humans inevitably want to connect and discuss.
Like, I take pictures of litter with a very expensive camera. But why? What is litter, anyway? Is it an emblem of excess and our disgusting nature as humans? Or is it a blend of artificial and natural? Honestly, I don’t know, but I keep taking pictures of drinks or cigarette boxes left in the street because there’s something I’m trying to isolate as worthy of discussion. It’s fucking niche but someone’s gotta do it.
Artists sometimes don’t choose what they’ll be burdened by. The line between brilliance and madness, for some of the most discussed artists and artworks, is incredibly fine. But part of the growth is understanding where that line is for you. And I find looking backwards to what discussions my artwork can inspire, if part of the process of finding the brilliance and the madness.
A word about this newsletter moving forward.
I’ve always felt my bio and synopsis for my identity on this platform was too much of everything—Dad, sports enthusiast, marketer, photographer, etc. In truth, I have way too many hobbies and interests, but it’s part of what makes living exciting.
However, I've found that I’ve been disingenuous about what I want from this platform. I’m here to highlight photography as a powerful art form. For many people, photography is a commodity, a passive experience that technology has made relatively easy. But I don’t believe that. I think good photography is as powerful as the best novel in the world; I believe photography can evoke frighteningly strong human emotions, just like cinema can. I think photography can shape the way we think and interact with the world. I think we can celebrate photography the way we celebrate live music.
To my subscribers, I’m going to get super gritty and niche on photography. I’m going to use this forum to highlight this medium and this art form because, frankly, it’s critical.
I think artificial intelligence is going to try and eat photography and photographers for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And I’ll be damned if I don’t put up a fight. So, if this isn’t your thing, no worries and no harm. I hope you stick around, but I completely understand if you don’t.
If there’s anything I’m hoping to inspire, it’s to grab a camera, find something interesting, and open yourself to document it and start a discussion. Don’t underestimate the inspiration you wield with a bit of light and a tool to capture it.
Some photos with different cameras and a new addition to the DLC camera arsenal.
I recently discovered Giancarlo Valentine’s work, and it’s breathtaking. His goal to document a very real and diversified black experience, while radically loving who is, through words and images. The camera is both a powerful tool and a liberator of beauty. Check out this PBS snapshot of his work.
Happy Sunday and thanks for reading. Today’s tune brings together Little Simz and Lydia Kitto, the latter being one of my biggest musical crushes on the planet. Mindblowingly beautiful.