On Seeing (And Being)
A few thoughts from FlakPhoto HQ
I guess the summer’s over?
It's hard to believe it will be September in a few hours. This summer has flown by, and it’s been good for me. I hope yours has been good too. I saw this cartoon in The New Yorker’s Daily Cartoon blog today and couldn’t resist sharing it with you. Funny, right? It’s a genius little cartoon, and it made me smile. If you like this one, you’ll enjoy Anjali Chandrashekar’s work. She’s great. Please spend a few minutes on her website and follow her Instagram. You’ll be glad you did.
I woke up today thinking about pictures, and Anjali’s cartoon resonated because it pokes fun at the experiential way we use photography. Why photograph the moon? Because it’s there! Because we’re here, our moon pictures are part of how we make sense of what it means to live on this giant, weird planet of ours.
Here’s something I keep realizing: Photography is good for you! It's a practice. A way of life. It can be art, sure, and creative expression, too. But more than that, it's a way to see the world and connect with our experience of being here. If we can engage with it that way, it can change our lives. I must be in a state of middle-aged reflection because this is where my mind has been for weeks. Mainly, what matters? And how can I be better at being me? I have a few answers, but I’m still working on it.
While writing this post, I remembered this video of photographer Alec Soth that Minnesota Public Television produced a few years ago. Alec talks about artmaking and the balance we need to strike between inputs and outcomes. It’s good and helped clarify a few things for me. I think you’ll like it.
One more thing…
turns one next week! Last year, I launched this thing as an experiment to get myself back into blogging and to wean myself off so much social media. I'm still on social as much as ever, but I've had fun writing for you, and I hope you've enjoyed reading my posts over the past twelve months. I plan to make this newsletter my base of operations. The FlakPhoto project started when I launched a blog all those years ago. Social media devoured that habit, and I got burned out. Then I started writing here, and things got better.Oddly, what began as a newsletter is becoming increasingly bloggy. So I’m making it official: moving forward, you can find me at flakphoto.news.
Please share that link with your friends, and feel free to bookmark it. I would love more folks to hear about what I’m doing with this project. Word of mouth is how this spreads, and every little bit helps. Sincere thanks to each of you for being a part of this. I hope you enjoy your Labor Day holiday. Have a great weekend!
Happy Substack birthday next week Andy - I think we are the same age!
These two Alec Soth quotations from his book ‘A Pound of Pictures’ resonate with me:
1. “When burdened by the feeling that there are too many photographs in the world, I ask myself if there are too many flowers.”
2. “Photography doesn’t just force me to leave the house, it forces me to leave my head (briefly).”
Love this one Andy. On a lot of levels. Meditation is a huge part of my life and practice and figuring out how to be happy is a big thing! ha funny how we have to take some time to get there sometimes. After school planning a move to a place I love so much and want to commit to 100% and totally relate to small farmhouse for cheap and seeing what happens there. (Lake Superior in WI is where you will find me, doing my wet plate and who knows what, watergrams etc. and teaching and baking bread, maybe a cattle dog or a border collie again).
Photography for me IS a way of living and making sense, its a spiritual practice, it's medicine.
SO 1000% down for all of this.
Thanks!
Hillary