Posts from the ‘Moods’ Category
i hate it when i’m doing something real focused, like hanging clothes in the closet, and then turning around to catch my cat by the door staring at me. i hate it mostly because it happens pretty much all the time. i could be surfing the internet and turn around and in the corner of my eye, my cat is staring at me from underneath the table or on top of the ten foot bookcase. not a lot of people stare at me when i’m on the street because i am trying to go through life completely anonymous and i’ve worked hard to go mostly unnoticed by everything and everyone. but then this whole cat thing puts all the work i’ve done into question. i stay up at night worrying about it. i know cats are skilled and everything but if i can’t hide from my own cat then i might have a real problem. but what i really hate is when i think my cat is staring at me and when i give a double take, it’s my unfolded boxers or a hand towel discarded on the floor. and then i’ll see my cat staring at me from some other place in the room. sometimes i pick up the boxers or hand towel and throw it at her.
everyday can be a new day if you let it.
About a month ago, I was looking through the on-again off-again mess that is my closet. On the floor, behind a box of folders, were ten rolls of exposed tri-x in a ziplock bag. I had no idea when I took these films , other than that it was within the last five years. This was the first roll I had developed. My Ricoh has been suffering from light leaks, and this was taken before I noticed how consistent and pervasive the leaks became.
About a week after Sandy, I went with a group of neighbors down to the Rockaways to help out. Even with the pictures and news reports, there was still nothing that prepared me for what I saw. Homes and businesses destroyed with such certainty. Reminders everywhere of things and people that used to be.
Coast to coast. L.A. to Chicago.
same ol’ shit. just a different day.
#street #aroundtown
After the last few years experimenting with photography, I’ve come to the realization that I love the smack. For me, that is what I look for in a camera. Something tactile. Something that feels cold and at the same time alive when you press the shutter. It is not so much the actual “smack” sound that makes a camera have smack, but the measure of an inanimate camera’s ability to come to life and command drones. A digital camera feels like a conclusion. It just is. It has nothing to say really other than, “Press me right there, bitch.”
The Nikon FM1: It is not just a Nikon FM1, but The Nikon FM1. Every FM1 begins with a “The.” When you press the shutter, you feel it driving through the fucking earth like it’s pudding.
A film camera, though, says, “Join me in the journey towards supernatural combinations as our lifeforce combines and establishes electricity for small villages everywhere.”
As an astronaut, I’m certainly not going to delve into the argument of which is better, film or digital. That debate often revolves around the final image. You know, like a picture that we share to everybody but then gets cataloged by the government. (I fucking hate that!). I’m talking only about the mere enjoyment of pressing the shutter. That’s just all you. You can’t even truly describe it because it’s more of a feeling than something that can be articulated with any deft.
The Leica M Sex: If a camera was a beautiful woman that drives a porsche and eats meat but looks like a vegetarian, then this is it. You press this one and it’s like a lap dance.
After some consideration and edit sessions, I’ve decided to put this post onto a special alpha radioactive radio message that I’m sending to space in the next few days. When it does make contact with the other clone moons in the next galaxy, they will have some examples of the cameras that had the smack. If you are so inclined, I can add your views on what cameras have the smack but please let me know whether you want me to include your name just in case you’re thinking of perhaps preserving a part of yourself in some kind of glass container (maybe a gallon?). And of course I also added this typewriter, the Olivetti Lettera 32. This also has very good smack and I use it to send secret messages when I need the privacy and as most of you know, ever since the kombucha incident, I’ve been really wary of strangers and small birds.
The Yashica-Mat LM: If you want to look at the world backwards and can’t justify spending money for a Rolleiflex 2.8, get one of these.
Screw those Royal Typewriters. If you actually want to type and not just have a typewriter for show, the Olivetti Lettera 32 will make love with your fingers and spit out beautiful letters that sometimes make words and understandable human phrases.
i’m not sure what these are.
people who say that humans are doomed don’t know what the fuck they’re talking about. sure, we’re putting metric tons of pollution in the air. we’re sending out drones to kill people. we’re burning down cabins in california. we’re putting hundreds of thousands of people in jail for drugs. but that’s expected given the types of intelligence and fine motor skills we have. dolphins and little furry hamsters would do the same thing if they had what we had. but one thing we have that guarantees our long term survival is hope. hope is not based on reason or logic or common sense. it’s about believing in something that really has no chance of ever happening.
people tell me i should just breathe another day.
be my friend. hold me.
e v e r y d a y aperture 