2025 11 27
The 606 in winter. Chicago, Illinois. November, 2022. © Clayton Hauck
It used to be that I’d walk the 606 almost daily, as my studio and home are both located alongside of it. These days, however, I find myself taking a different path, through the neighborhood, mostly because it’s a slightly more direct and quicker route. The few minutes saved on each trip may add up over time and allow me to be more productive, but realistically the scenes and human encounters I am missing as a result are likely more detrimental. There’s a clever analogy in here somewhere but I’ll let you figure it out. I don’t have time for that today.
-Clayton
2025 11 26
Night shade. Chicago, Illinois. December, 2022. © Clayton Hauck
Almost caught up on posts! I vow to never fall so behind again! Will this here blog exist in 2026?
-Clayton
2025 11 25
That Tiny House. Chicago, Illinois. December, 2022. © Clayton Hauck
Here it is! My oldest known capture of That Tiny House on the Ricoh GRiiix. Perhaps it will be a book one day.
Follow the tag link to see more! One logistical issue I’m a little bummed about is that I start a new blog each year and I’m unable to carry tags over from previous years. Maybe one day I will find myself with far too much time on my hands and I will migrate everything over to a new platform. But realistically I doubt this day will come.
-Clayton
2025 11 24
New flag, who dis? Chicago, Illinois. December, 2022. © Clayton Hauck
Previously, I wrote about how much of the traffic to this here blog has been coming from China (See: 2025 11 07). Well, that trend has only accelerated since that post and I’m now seeing over 70% of all traffic being of Chinese-origin. The only logical conclusions I can draw from this are:
I’m big in China!
My previous most frequent site visitor (my mom) has a computer so riddled with Chinese spyware and malware that her USA-based desktop computer is showing up as being Chinese.
My blog host (Squarespace) recently sold out to private equity and the new owners are boosting traffic to owners of websites with fragile egos (myself) in hopes to get us to stick around and pay them more money.
Whatever the actual reason for this situation, I will now translate each blog post into Mandarin Chinese (for my loyal readers who never comment and may not be human) in hopes to further increase my reach in my new favorite country:
之前我写过，这个博客的大部分流量都来自中国（参见：2025年11月7日）。自从那篇文章之后，这个趋势只增不减，现在我看到超过 70% 的访问量都来自中国。对此我只能得出以下几个合乎逻辑的结论：
我在中国很火！
我之前访问我网站最频繁的人（我妈），她的电脑大概已经被各种中国的间谍软件和恶意软件折腾得不成样子，以至于她在美国的台式机现在都被显示成来自中国的流量。
我的博客主机（Squarespace）最近卖给了私募基金，新老板为了让自尊心脆弱的网站主（比如我）继续留下并付更多钱，正在人为地提高我们的网站流量。
不管实际原因是什么，我现在决定把每篇博客文章都翻译成中文普通话（献给我那些从不留言、也许不一定是人类的忠实读者），以期在我如今最喜欢的国家进一步扩大影响力
-Clayton (拜拜)
2025 11 23
Allison. Chicago, Illinois. December, 2022. © Clayton Hauck
My wife (pictured) does not like this image. Clay (a published photographer) told me it’s his favorite image in my zine.
One of my big recent lessons has been that in practice, an image being good or bad has far less value than I’d previously placed upon it. More important to the work, I’m learning, is the context in which the specific image is placed. Is it alone on a print or in the middle of a book? Is it resting in a blog page with words below it or included in a web portfolio?
My first zine project (Pointing at Stuff 001, available now!) was very much a working lesson in world building and narrative forming. I won’t tell you I’m a master at thees things just yet, but I now feel like I’ve got at least one foot on the foundation and am excited to see where the next step takes me.
-Clayton
2025 11 21
Our first president. Chicago, Illinois. December, 2022. © Clayton Hauck
-Clayton
2025 11 20
I AM RICH. Chicago, Illinois. December, 2022. © Clayton Hauck
One thing I hadn’t previously considered is that perhaps the owner of this vehicle is named Rich. I think this goes a long way in describing the reality that I spend far too much of my time these days worried about finances.
-Clayton
2025 11 19
Kenneth at See You Soon. Chicago, Illinois. December, 2022. © Clayton Hauck
More images from the zine… my first zine… which is more of a book, depending on who you ask. It is also the name of this website.
-Clayton
2025 11 18
Classic martini. Rainbo, Chicago, Illinois. December, 2022. © Clayton Hauck
It used to be the martini was a complete turn-off to me. The glassware shape was stupid and the drink wasn’t worth consuming. Of course, as we get older, our perspectives change. You learn, through the years, that most often things are classic for a reason, and it’s not unusual to be wrong about viewpoints you once held firm. Wrong and right is relative, for sure, but there’s no debating the martini is a classic cocktail for good reason.
-Clayton
2025 11 17
Photographing “The Pope.” See You Soon, Chicago, Illinois. October, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
Here’s a lil behind-the-scenes peek during a recent Chicago Magazine cover shoot at the studio.
-Clayton
2025 11 16
Haley & The Rainbo. Chicago, Illinois. December, 2022. © Clayton Hauck
If I’m being honest, my sister is the real reason I’m doing any of this art stuff. She’s always been more thoughtful and knowledgeable about all things art. I feel like a poser, by comparison. I’m working on it, though!
While watching this fantastic (as always) Alec Soth video (below), I both thought of Haley who loves to send and give physical objects while also contemplating how so much of what he says mirrors my own internal dialogue for justifying a career pivot towards photobooks and prints. I’m spending a ton of my time both printing my own work, leaning, and growing, while also now purchasing the work of others to sell in our Realm bookshop. This image is from my first printed zine — check it out! I promise I’ll stop hyping my blog soon, it’s just exciting to have physical work out in the wild and not yet something I’m used to.
-Clayton
2025 11 15
Cat. Chicago, Illinois. December, 2022. © Clayton Hauck
I’ve managed to be relatively okay at keeping plants alive mostly due to one trick I thought up, which I’m quite proud of. The way I remember to water my plants is that the first and the fifteenth are water days. Of course, I don’t always hit the days exactly, but I know that if it’s the beginning or the middle of the month, the plants probably need some water. They’re happy; I’m happy; it’s worked quite well for years now. That said, a few of my plants are now up there in years and clearly in decline. I’m not sure this method is so effective anymore and I likely need to come up with something more appropriate for my elder house plants.
-Clayton
2025 11 13
Allison. Chicago, Illinois. December 23, 2022. © Clayton Hauck
Have I mentioned I have a zine out now with the same name as this blog? I guess, since this blog didn’t yet exist in the days the images from the blog were made, I should share a few more of the images that are in the book but not yet on the website. Right? Mostly because I am behind on my posts and this seems like a relatively easy way to “catch up.”
-Clayton
PS if interested you can snag the zine here for the low price of twenty dollars!
2025 11 12
Lil Durk’s childhood home. Chicago, Illinois. October, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
While driving around the south side after a photo assignment, my car’s navigation alerted me I was passing Lil Durk’s house. While I was previously engaged with documenting Chicago’s music scene in my younger days, I mostly got out of the scene during the rise of drill, so missed a lot of what Chicago is largely known for these days. I’m not very familiar with Durk, but a quick read of his wiki page is, if anything, fascinting:
On May 31, 2014, Durk's cousin OTF Nunu also known as Nuski was shot and killed.[101] Then, on March 27, 2015, Uchenna "OTF Chino Dolla" Agina, Durk's friend and manager, was also shot dead.[102] On November 6, 2020, Lil Durk's affiliate and fellow rapper King Von was fatally shot outside a nightclub in Atlanta.[103] On June 6, 2021, Durk's brother, Dontay "DThang" Banks Jr, was shot and killed outside of a Chicago nightclub.[104][105]
Chicago has a bad reputation for crime, guns, and murder. Of course these things happen here, but the city is so much bigger and broader than these headlines. That said, reading Durk’s wiki page is a sad reminder of the paths so many of our children take after catching a wave of success through music. So many lives cut down too short. This isn’t something I aim to focus on with my photography, however, it’s also impossible to fully avoid and is a subject worth much closer examination in hopes of finding ways to avoid these violent spirals in future generations.
Summarizing someone’s life through a single sentence on wikipedia does not do him justice, but today Durk sits in prison awaiting trial for murder-for-hire. They took away his key to the city. His childhood home sits, as it has for decades, visibly unaffected by the transcendent highs and brutal lows cast into this world by one child who grew up inside of its walls.
[check out the video below if you want more backstory]
-Clayton
2025 11 11
Hope (on the highway). Chicago, Illinois. October, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
It’s been a busy year and I haven’t been able to work on my Illinois Project much, annoyingly. Because of this, I now have a new project brewing in my head that is closer to home. For now, we’ll call it The Chicago Project. As is the case with all of my photo projects, I’m not really sure, yet, what it is, but I’ve been really inspired by my travels around town and think I can bring an interesting perspective to a subject that has been documented and captured countless times over. Time will tell. For now, there is hope.
-Clayton
2025 11 10
Haley, dreaming of being a hobo. Chana, Illinois. October, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
There’s so much beauty in these small Illinois towns we’ve been exploring. I’m still not certain if it’s mostly due to my lack of exposure to these sort of places, thus making them (ironically) new and exciting. I don’t think that’s it, though. The textures, the visible history, the grit and lack of attention. These are the things that keep me coming back.
-Clayton
2025 11 09
Sunrise (the best one I’ve seen!) over Chicago, Illinois. October, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
Recently I wrote about waking up early after being up late, and how as a freelance photographer you don’t really get sick days (see: 2025 10 15). This is the sunset I was treated to on that drive. The photos never do them justice and it’s cringe to post photos of them on your blog.
-Clayton
2025 11 08
On the road. Chicago, Illinois. October, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
One thing I hate about driving is all of the moments I see and miss while manning the vehicle. This lil moment was cute and I was able to somewhat capture it, however, a tighter and higher angle on this scene would’ve made for a more impactful image, I think, with the hard light from the sun lighting up his tattooed-arm and glistening off the action figure. If only there was a girl (possibly named Jessica) hanging out in the bed of the truck, we’d have ourselves a Certified Banger image.
-Clayton