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Celebrating two years on Substack
Hey everybody, this is just a short note today. Yesterday, Kristen and I caught up with some friends we hadn’t seen in a while, and I found myself talking about writing this newsletter and how much it means to me — how much you mean to me. I realized then that I’ve been writing to you for two years.
I rebooted the FlakPhoto newsletter here on Substack in September 2022. I’ve been so busy planning photography programs at ArtLitLab, promoting them, coordinating logistics, and tending to everything else we packed into our schedule these past few weeks that I completely spaced on the anniversary. Time is flying!
I wanted to thank you again for reading my writing and looking at the photography I show here week after week. Your attention is valuable, and I don’t take it for granted. FlakPhoto is still free and available to everyone — special thanks to those of you who support my work with paid subscriptions. I appreciate you!
Two years ago, I committed to changing my relationship with social media and getting back to blogging. For the most part, I have done that, which feels good. FlakPhoto is a labor of love, and its meaning is in the making. Many of you are artists with your own projects, so I know you can appreciate how this works: creative labor is its own reward. Reflecting on that with gratitude is critical.
Here’s the thing: I have been so buried in my photo work these past few months that I feel disconnected from our photoland community. I hope you might update me on your creative progress and let me know what you’ve been up to lately.
I plan to refocus my efforts to amplify community projects this fall, and I look forward to hearing from you. Please feel free to reply to this email with a project update, or you can always email me directly.
Okay, that’s all for now. I’m eager to hear from you. Have a great week!
I really appreciate you being here, Andy, and the generosity of your engagement in my own early forays into this community. Having a face-to-face chat was a fabulous early highlight and reassured me that real humans existed here, folk who want to engage slowly and intentionally. As someone who values that and who has tried to put the same spirit at the heart of our social presence, I really felt ‘seen’ to use the modern parlance. Congratulations on the milestone. It matters that you celebrate it with a post about depth and meaningfulness of engagement, not any of the other metrics you could have chosen. Inspiring.
Hi Andy! How has it already been two years? Congratulations. Since you asked what we are up to, I am in the process of looking for a place to build some kind of retreat/artist in residence center in the Hudson Valley (ideally near Hudson, where I live now) that would primarily be a place to host photography workshops for photographers who feel inspired to teach them. We shall see where this leads. It's still in early stages, but it feels like the right step for me after 35+ years as a professional fashion/wedding/portrait and fine art photographer. I love workshops, and I love connecting people, but I don't necessarily want to be the one teaching them. This feels like the perfect solution. Who knows, maybe you will feel inspired to come and teach something!