2024 12 02
Seems like weāre due for another Life Update Monday around here. Itās been a while. As always, I use this blog primarily as a space for me to think and practice writing. Honestly, after close to a year of doing this every day, Iām happy with the results so far! That said, this year has also been a blur. Iām clearly taking on too much and doing too many different things. While mostly by design, Iām aware itās not sustainable and plan to scale back on my ambitions next year, while hopefully focusing on less things simultaneously.
Today, I woke up to a social media post that hit me:
Nietzsche describes 3 modern vices:
ļ»æļ»æļ»æOverwork. To be constantly busy is self-negation. It betrays "a will to forget" oneself.
ļ»æļ»æļ»æCuriosity. Vague curiosity about everything, without deep obsessions, goes nowhere.
ļ»æļ»æļ»æSympathy. Sympathy for all = a refusal to rank good and bad.
Iām definitely guilty of numbers one and two and generally agree with his assessment of their negative aspects. These next two weeks are going to be a whirlwind, as I have a number of studio events going on (including a holiday market I organized happening this Saturday!) and multiple photo shoots (some my own, including a large four-day shoot, along with others where I play the role of studio manager). Picking priorities and ensuring the most important tasks donāt get neglected is critical, but of course, many of the less important details are going to get put off. My printing, side projects, a holiday party, bartending, Illinois Project, reading, photo editing, website updating, blogging, film screenings, portrait sessions, all will have to wait until next year.
Bigger picture, a big takeaway Iāve had from this yearās chaos was that I love running a photo studio space, largely for reasons that donāt even involve photo shoots: hosting and planning events, collaborating with fun and interesting people, community. Itās a ton of work and exhausting, but nevertheless fills me with purpose and inspiration. The big challenge is figuring out how to make an event space sustainable financially.
Ideally, I can continue to focus my time and energy on these things, while also keeping my love for photography in the forefront. I continually look at places like Baltimore Photo Space as inspiration and plan to pursuit some hybrid entity that combines all the things See You Soon already is, while making it more focused on photography as an art form, which I continue to think is wildly underrated.
I realize this is all quite vague, and thatās because it is and will continue to be a work in progress, and there are still lots of questions to be answered. This post, I hope, will serve as a reminder to myself that I canāt neglect focusing inward and giving my own voice a space to talk. Whatever becomes of See You Soon will be best guided by following my own interests and excitement and not by attempting to copy something that exists elsewhere.
-Clayton
Baltimore Photo Space. Photo Books Inside. Baltimore, Maryland. September, 2024. Ā© Clayton Hauck
Seems like weāre due for another Life Update Monday around here. Itās been a while. As always, I use this blog primarily as a space for me to think and practice writing. Honestly, after close to a year of doing this every day, Iām happy with the results so far! That said, this year has also been a blur. Iām clearly taking on too much and doing too many different things. While mostly by design, Iām aware itās not sustainable and plan to scale back on my ambitions next year, while hopefully focusing on less things simultaneously.
Today, I woke up to a social media post that hit me:
Nietzsche describes 3 modern vices:
ļ»æļ»æļ»æOverwork. To be constantly busy is self-negation. It betrays "a will to forget" oneself.
ļ»æļ»æļ»æCuriosity. Vague curiosity about everything, without deep obsessions, goes nowhere.
ļ»æļ»æļ»æSympathy. Sympathy for all = a refusal to rank good and bad.
Iām definitely guilty of numbers one and two and generally agree with his assessment of their negative aspects. These next two weeks are going to be a whirlwind, as I have a number of studio events going on (including a holiday market I organized happening this Saturday!) and multiple photo shoots (some my own, including a large four-day shoot, along with others where I play the role of studio manager). Picking priorities and ensuring the most important tasks donāt get neglected is critical, but of course, many of the less important details are going to get put off. My printing, side projects, a holiday party, bartending, Illinois Project, reading, photo editing, website updating, blogging, film screenings, portrait sessions, all will have to wait until next year.
Bigger picture, a big takeaway Iāve had from this yearās chaos was that I love running a photo studio space, largely for reasons that donāt even involve photo shoots: hosting and planning events, collaborating with fun and interesting people, community. Itās a ton of work and exhausting, but nevertheless fills me with purpose and inspiration. The big challenge is figuring out how to make an event space sustainable financially.
Ideally, I can continue to focus my time and energy on these things, while also keeping my love for photography in the forefront. I continually look at places like Baltimore Photo Space as inspiration and plan to pursuit some hybrid entity that combines all the things See You Soon already is, while making it more focused on photography as an art form, which I continue to think is wildly underrated.
I realize this is all quite vague, and thatās because it is and will continue to be a work in progress, and there are still lots of questions to be answered. This post, I hope, will serve as a reminder to myself that I canāt neglect focusing inward and giving my own voice a space to talk. Whatever becomes of See You Soon will be best guided by following my own interests and excitement and not by attempting to copy something that exists elsewhere.
-Clayton
2024 02 09
Seeking Spaces Corners.
Before departing Pittsburgh on my way out to New Jersey, I stopped by the Spaces Corners space, however, they were closed, and I didnāt have an appointment, and donāt know them personally, so I just wandered the cute lil neighborhood for a bit (have I mentioned how much I love Pittsburgh?) and snapped a few photos before hitting the road.
Iād been planning to use this entry to pen some thoughts on a new photo book by Ed Panar, one of the Spaces Corners owners, which Iāve been really excited to receive, however, the book hasnāt been delivered yet (I think my order is being help up by the Sofia Coppola book not being in stock so Baltimore Photo Space is waiting for that before shipping). Ed is a favorite photographer of mine and, considering the book features one of my favorite cities, Iāve been super excited to check it out.
I might just be romanticizing it but Pittsburgh seems like a cheat code for making great images. The angles, the textures, the people, the grit, the seasons, the topography. I continue to tell anyone who will listen itās one of the most underrated cities in the country. Another underrated city in my opinion is Baltimore, which is home to the aforementioned bookstore I ordered Edās book from. Since the book hasnāt arrived yet and I canāt talk about it, Iāll instead talk about photo book stores.
Weird transition aside, Iāve been a bit obsessed with the idea of opening up some kind of photo book store for like a year now. The idea, generally, would be to use my existing See You Soon studio location as a home base and open the place up to customers, similar to what BPS does, either by appointment or on limited weekend hours. To make the whole endevour make financial sense, Iād need to do a solid amount of web sales, which is mostly whatās holding me back (packing, shipping, order fulfillment, emails, more shipping, more emails, are not exactly my favorite things to spend my time on). But I love the idea of setting up the space as a bit of a hub for photography, with photo books being a main aspect, in addition to hosting shows, talks, meetups, etc. Chicago is a bit lacking in options for where to buy and browse new photo books (otherwise known as a business opportunity?).
Perhaps writing about the idea and putting it out into the world will somehow help me decide if this idea is worth pursuing or not. If you have thoughts, leave a comment! ā side note: Upon writing this I realized the comment box was not visible on the blog. Iād been getting bummed about nobody leaving comments over a month into this daily posting (each blog ending with a large āComments (0)ā but hadnāt ever noticed there was no way to comment, as the form had been hidden until I switched a setting to enable it. There has to be some kind of extrapolation in this? Focusing on the negatives without assessing the issue. Sure a photo book store will create a lot of unwanted busy work, but perhaps the upside will be a worth the effort: a plethora of new comments, friends, and opportunity!
-Clayton
Troy Hill neighborhood. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. November, 2023. Ā© Clayton Hauck
Seeking Spaces Corners.
Before departing Pittsburgh on my way out to New Jersey, I stopped by the Spaces Corners space, however, they were closed, and I didnāt have an appointment, and donāt know them personally, so I just wandered the cute lil neighborhood for a bit (have I mentioned how much I love Pittsburgh?) and snapped a few photos before hitting the road.
Iād been planning to use this entry to pen some thoughts on a new photo book by Ed Panar, one of the Spaces Corners owners, which Iāve been really excited to receive, however, the book hasnāt been delivered yet (I think my order is being help up by the Sofia Coppola book not being in stock so Baltimore Photo Space is waiting for that before shipping). Ed is a favorite photographer of mine and, considering the book features one of my favorite cities, Iāve been super excited to check it out.
I might just be romanticizing it but Pittsburgh seems like a cheat code for making great images. The angles, the textures, the people, the grit, the seasons, the topography. I continue to tell anyone who will listen itās one of the most underrated cities in the country. Another underrated city in my opinion is Baltimore, which is home to the aforementioned bookstore I ordered Edās book from. Since the book hasnāt arrived yet and I canāt talk about it, Iāll instead talk about photo book stores.
Weird transition aside, Iāve been a bit obsessed with the idea of opening up some kind of photo book store for like a year now. The idea, generally, would be to use my existing See You Soon studio location as a home base and open the place up to customers, similar to what BPS does, either by appointment or on limited weekend hours. To make the whole endevour make financial sense, Iād need to do a solid amount of web sales, which is mostly whatās holding me back (packing, shipping, order fulfillment, emails, more shipping, more emails, are not exactly my favorite things to spend my time on). But I love the idea of setting up the space as a bit of a hub for photography, with photo books being a main aspect, in addition to hosting shows, talks, meetups, etc. Chicago is a bit lacking in options for where to buy and browse new photo books (otherwise known as a business opportunity?).
Perhaps writing about the idea and putting it out into the world will somehow help me decide if this idea is worth pursuing or not. If you have thoughts, leave a comment! ā side note: Upon writing this I realized the comment box was not visible on the blog. Iād been getting bummed about nobody leaving comments over a month into this daily posting (each blog ending with a large āComments (0)ā but hadnāt ever noticed there was no way to comment, as the form had been hidden until I switched a setting to enable it. There has to be some kind of extrapolation in this? Focusing on the negatives without assessing the issue. Sure a photo book store will create a lot of unwanted busy work, but perhaps the upside will be a worth the effort: a plethora of new comments, friends, and opportunity!
-Clayton