Are you an artist?
On community and creative sustenance
“Human creativity is nature manifest in us.” — Ethan Hawke
Just a short post today. I want to hear from you when you have a few minutes. Many of you know I’m as fascinated with the internet as I am with photography. The FlakPhoto project has long been focused on exploring the intersection of digital culture and creative practice, and the thing I love most about the Web is how it connects us to each other.
I rebooted this newsletter last fall because I was drained by so much social media activity, and I have frequently written about how social media isn’t good for artists. And yet, it’s still one of the best tools we have for sharing images and ideas. I started writing FlakPhoto Digest because I wanted a direct line to my creative community — one not governed by corporate algorithms or choked by commercial advertisements. I’m having a good time, and I hope you are too.
Writing for you has been a privilege and a highlight of the past year. I’m grateful you continue to carve out some time and attention to read my posts.
I call you my readers because you read this newsletter. But you’re more than readers — you're colleagues and contemporaries, fellow photographers, creative practitioners, and artists of all stripes. You are my people! And I want to know more about you. I was incredibly grateful for your many comments on my post about dealing with creative block. Thanks for sharing your insights with me.
The summer is coming to a close, and I’m reflecting on what the newsletter means to me as I approach its first anniversary in a few weeks. Why do I keep writing? Because I get a charge out of meeting creative people. It makes me genuinely happy when I can help to bring a broader audience to their work. That’s what inspires me.
I want to hear from you: Are you an artist?
Please drop me a line if you identify as a culture maker so I can learn about you and your projects — You can reply to this email, write me directly, or leave me a comment. No rush; whenever you have a sec. Thank you!
I’ll leave you with this: Ethan Hawke riffing on why creativity matters. He talks about art as a kind of sustenance, which sounds about right. I think you’ll like this.
That’s all for now. I’m looking forward to hearing from you. Have a great week!
Hi Andy!
I'm Ann and I currently live in Chapel Hill, North Carolina-- a wonderful college town a lot like Madison, Wisconsin! In fact, I grew up near Rockford, Illinois, so I'm definitely from your part of the country-- howdy neighbor!
I'm a former ICU nurse, who now works in the field of dentistry. I love to create space for patients to feel safe, and respected, and valued for their own unique way of being in the world. Nursing is an honor and a calling for me. It's also so much fun! My patients are such humorous and honest folks :)
On my days off, I hike on local forest trails and observe the 72 microseasons of the natural year by taking photos on-the-go with my phone.This has become such a reliable practice for my creative expression— yet still contains so much serendipity and surprise!
I really love the feeling of a fresh start— and I get to enjoy this all the time now, because a new microseason starts every 5 days.
I feel profound gratitude to all the generations who’ve come before me in creating and refining this ancient, natural, beautiful way of thinking about time and our planet Earth. And I started this Substack to spread the word and encourage others to tap into their own natural curiosity and creativity by spending a little time outside.
In getting to circle around again and again to each microseason, we can all inhabit a beautiful spiral of time wherever we live! And we can use this creative energy to live more happily together.
Come visit me over at "Microseasons" 72seasons.substack.com
I am not a photographer or artist but art of any kind enriches my life at a soul level.
My art form is writing. I agree that it's vital to reflect on the meaning, or the why, behind our creation. When I hold my focus on why I am writing I don't get caught in the web of wanting to be further along the path than I am, I can enjoy the work for the work's sake and the reader's sake.
Thanks for this Andy, I am a new subscriber and look forward to joining your community from a non-photographers perspective!