2024 11 03
Yesterday, Sunday, I took my day off so seriously that I forgot to post anything at all. I blame the Bears, who so demoralized me, I lost the will to do anything at all. Chicago sports is remarkable, really. Our teams experience occasional brilliant glory and then spend the next decade or two toiling away among the worst and most poorly-run organizations in all of sports. Weāll get āem next year, Iāll say again next year!
-Clayton
Another Mr Peepers. Chicago, Illinois. September, 2024. Ā© Clayton Hauck
Yesterday, Sunday, I took my day off so seriously that I forgot to post anything at all. I blame the Bears, who so demoralized me, I lost the will to do anything at all. Chicago sports is remarkable, really. Our teams experience occasional brilliant glory and then spend the next decade or two toiling away among the worst and most poorly-run organizations in all of sports. Weāll get āem next year, Iāll say again next year!
-Clayton
2024 10 20
I love wandering this vast country by car but dislike the complete compartmentalization of out society. Everything is a brand and a logo, high up on a stick to grab your attention as you whizz by in your mass produced metal box on wheels. At night, the stray cats come out and live a life of freedom and adventure while the truck drivers nap in their cabs. Tomorrow, they will get the boxes filled with SKUs to the big box shops to refill the shelves and keep society lubricated.
-Clayton
No pets. Somewhere in Pennsylvania. July, 2024. Ā© Clayton Hauck
I love wandering this vast country by car but dislike the complete compartmentalization of our society. Everything is a brand and a logo, high up on a stick to grab your attention as you whizz by in your mass produced metal box on wheels. At night, the stray cats come out and live a life of freedom and adventure while the truck drivers nap in their cabs. Tomorrow, they will get the boxes filled with SKUs to the big box shops to refill the shelves and keep society lubricated.
-Clayton
2024 10 08
Itās been a busy few months and Iām still way behind on photo editing and life. Iām still working through a backlog of images from mid-summer. My to-do list of projects is long and Iām hopeful I will be able to start digging into some of the projects I aim to do as the days get colder, the sunlight less abundant, and the idea of staying in to buckle down on work starts to make more sense.
I pulled a photobook off my shelf this afternoon while waiting on batch processing of portrait edits. It was Tim Barberās Untitled Photographs book, which I hadnāt peeked at in years. This led me to Timās website, which I also hadnāt been to in years. His website kept my attention through the entire series of one-at-a-time images and I thought the minimalist approach was something I might want to steal. As I get older, the urge to re-focus my photography web presence also grows. My site is currently far more catered to a commercial client audience, which makes sense as this is how Iāve made a living for two decades. But Iām beginning to wonder if a less on-the-nose and more minimal and artistic approach might be a smart move. Looking at Timās website got me excited. Much like after leaving an inspiring photo exhibit at a museum, I was walking around the studio seeing inanimate objects in a new light and taking photos of things Iād normal ignore. I love when this urge takes over and drives me to create new work. The trick is to make sure the subjects arenāt dying flowers on the kitchen counter. Get out and live a little, after you catch up on the photo editing, that is.
-Clayton
Cat on farm. Thawville, Illinois. June, 2024. Ā© Clayton Hauck
Itās been a busy few months and Iām still way behind on photo editing and life. Iām still working through a backlog of images from mid-summer. My to-do list of projects is long and Iām hopeful I will be able to start digging into some of the projects I aim to do as the days get colder, the sunlight less abundant, and the idea of staying in to buckle down on work starts to make more sense.
I pulled a photobook off my shelf this afternoon while waiting on batch processing of portrait edits. It was Tim Barberās Untitled Photographs book, which I hadnāt peeked at in years. This led me to Timās website, which I also hadnāt been to in years. His website kept my attention through the entire series of one-at-a-time images and I thought the minimalist approach was something I might want to steal. As I get older, the urge to re-focus my photography web presence also grows. My site is currently far more catered to a commercial client audience, which makes sense as this is how Iāve made a living for two decades. But Iām beginning to wonder if a less on-the-nose and more minimal and artistic approach might be a smart move. Looking at Timās website got me excited. Much like after leaving an inspiring photo exhibit at a museum, I was walking around the studio seeing inanimate objects in a new light and taking photos of things Iād normal ignore. I love when this urge takes over and drives me to create new work. The trick is to make sure the subjects arenāt dying flowers on the kitchen counter. Get out and live a little, after you catch up on the photo editing, that is.
-Clayton
2024 08 11
Itās Sunday. Iām recovering from Saturday. Another reminder that Iām too old to act like Iām still in my twenties if I want to be at all productive, which would be helpful as I have things to do. Important business things.
-Clayton
Another Mr. Peepers. Chicago, Illinois. July, 2024. Ā© Clayton Hauck
Itās Sunday. Iām recovering from Saturday. Another reminder that Iām too old to act like Iām still in my twenties if I want to be at all productive, which would be helpful as I have things to do. Important business things.
-Clayton
2024 08 05
Itās days like today that worry me about the future. Last night, I started seeing alerts about a huge market selloff in Japan. Sure enough, stocks around the world took a massive dump and made losses of historic nature. Sure, down days are normal, healthy even. Lower prices mean stocks are cheaper and younger people are better able to get in and enjoy larger returns. I get the logic and agree with it! What worries me isnāt the general up and down nature of stocks, itās that we, in America, have decided to completely outsource our retirement funds to the stock market. Everything and everyone is now so reliant on the market to perform, and if it does not, for any number of reasons, many people will suffer later in life.
Whatās that, you donāt want to work at McDonaldās into your eighties because the market is tanking and you can no longer afford to cover your grocery bill? Well, you better let us invade Iran to expand the friendly western economic markets! This country will eventually be forced to make drastic decisions out of financial necessity and weāll gladly do it because weāre all tied into the same system, a system based on future growth and earnings in a world trending towards less growth and less stability. And our livelihood depends on it.
But what do I know? *heads to Schwab to buy more Apple stock because itās down 6%* Oh wait, Schwab is down and I canāt access my funds. How reassuring!
-Clayton
āThe catās on the roof again.ā Vincennes, Indiana. April, 2024. Ā© Clayton Hauck
Itās days like today that worry me about the future. Last night, I started seeing alerts about a huge market selloff in Japan. Sure enough, stocks around the world took a massive dump and made losses of historic nature. Sure, down days are normal, healthy even. Lower prices mean stocks are cheaper and younger people are better able to get in and enjoy larger returns. I get the logic and agree with it! What worries me isnāt the general up and down nature of stocks, itās that we, in America, have decided to completely outsource our retirement funds to the stock market. Everything and everyone is now so reliant on the market to perform, and if it does not, for any number of reasons, many people will suffer later in life.
Whatās that, you donāt want to work at McDonaldās into your eighties because the market is tanking and you can no longer afford to cover your grocery bill? Well, you better let us invade Iran to expand the friendly western economic markets! This country will eventually be forced to make drastic decisions out of financial necessity and weāll gladly do it because weāre all tied into the same system, a system based on future growth and earnings in a world trending towards less growth and less stability. And our livelihood depends on it.
But what do I know? *heads to Schwab to buy more Apple stock because itās down 6%* Oh wait, Schwab is down and I canāt access my funds. How reassuring!
-Clayton
2024 07 22
What are you looking at?
-Clayton
Mr Peepers (cat). Chicago, Illinois. May, 2024. Ā© Clayton Hauck
What are you looking at?
-Clayton
2024 06 21
I need to find the time to make a photo zine called Mr Peepers with my photos of pets gazing out windows.
I need to find the time to make a photo zine called Fine, Art with my pocket cam Ricoh photos.
I need to find the time to find the time.
-Clayton
Cat (I think his name is Mr Peepers) in old house window. Chicago, Illinois. April, 2024. Ā© Clayton Hauck
I need to find the time to make a photo zine called Mr Peepers with my photos of pets gazing out windows.
I need to find the time to make a photo zine called Fine, Art with my pocket cam Ricoh photos.
I need to find the time to find the time.
-Clayton
2024 05 29
Iām a huge van of Vuhlandes. Heās a filmmaker whose youtube channel has been influential in convincing me to get back to my roots and shoot video again. Seemingly every video he drops has some nugget of influential coolness that just looks like a ton of fun and makes me want to emulate his style. His recent video release is as powerful as ever, while also being sad as can be. I hope Vuhlandes makes a full recovery as soon as possible and this is just a small roadblock in his journey to bigger and better things ahead.
If youāre not familiar with his work, go give it a watch; and if youāre able, consider donating to his gofundme.
-Clayton
Street cat in Vincennes, Indiana. April, 2024. Ā© Clayton Hauck
Iām a huge van of Vuhlandes. Heās a filmmaker whose youtube channel has been influential in convincing me to get back to my roots and shoot video again. Seemingly every video he drops has some nugget of influential coolness that just looks like a ton of fun and makes me want to emulate his style. His recent video release is as powerful as ever, while also being sad as can be. I hope Vuhlandes makes a full recovery as soon as possible and this is just a small roadblock in his journey to bigger and better things ahead.
If youāre not familiar with his work, go give it a watch; and if youāre able, consider donating to his gofundme.
-Clayton
2024 05 17
Putting yourself out there as an artist is rather daunting. Iāve long preferred the more transactional method of calling myself an editorial and commercial photographer. I have what someone wants (a skill in making nice images) and they have something I want (money, and sometimes exposure). Itās a deal! Although, the money side of the deal is proving to be increasingly challenging these days, which is a topic for another day. In part because of the increasingly changing photography landscape (more supply, less demand) and in part because Iām getting older and wanting to focus more on things I want to focus on, Iāve been turning a bit more towards calling myself, and acting like, an artist.
While this artful pivot is still a slow-moving work-in-progress, Iām finding my brain is becoming a bit more in tune with the things needed to move down the path towards art. Things that a younger me would decide are deal-breakers, an older me sees more as fun challenges and absurd realities that can further fuel my drive to create things. I realize Iām being quite vague here, however, most of what Iām referencing boils down to sales. Things I rather dislike about my current reality in the commercial photography world (selling yourself by any means possible) are also things that successful (not always good) artists also understand and excel at. Always Be Closing.
I have no idea if Iāll ever become a successful artist, as taking myself seriously enough is a challenge I may never overcome. Pricing an image or art piece at $10,000 because itās worth it is something I find much harder to do when the prospective buyer is the general public, as it immediately rules out 99% of the population and means your buyer will be a rich collector or investor type, and I fancy myself more a man of the people. Defense Mechanism Alert!
But who am I kidding, really? I currently sell my images for $10,000 to corporations, who can afford it, while thinking this is a more justified and acceptable path. Is it?
via Allison Schragerās Known Unknowns substack:
Becoming a successful artist these days takes jumping through a series of hoops: the Yale MFA, showing at the right galleries, andāif you are luckyābeing featured at events like the Biennial. It is hard to imagine that anyone who works at any of these places would indulge an artist who doesnāt adhere to the doctrine.
But that is also the case for many of our most elite institutions, in consulting, media, academiaā¦āpretty much everywhere. And the result is more predictability and less creativity. Donāt take this as an anti-woke rant. Some of the institutions I have in mind are not woke by any stretch, but they still demand a certain type of employee who went to a certain type of school and is conformist in nature. And this really matters in a winner-take-all economy, because climbing to the top of these institutions, or affiliation with them, is important, at least more important than it used to be. No wonder productivity is down.
I liked this quote above from Allison because it showcases how the art world is largely structured and guarded just like any other line of work. This idea is originally what kept away from the art world but these days is more so pushing me towards it.
My 40ās will be interesting as I have no idea where I will be in another ten years. The landscape may change so much Iāll be forced to move to a trade (certified arborist, here I come!) and leave photography altogether; or perhaps weāll all be living easy off our universal basic income checks. But for now: Fine, art.
-Clayton
Parking lot cat. Rockford, Illinois. March, 2024. Ā© Clayton Hauck
Putting yourself out there as an artist is rather daunting. Iāve long preferred the more transactional method of calling myself an editorial and commercial photographer. I have what someone wants (a skill in making nice images) and they have something I want (money, and sometimes exposure). Itās a deal! Although, the money side of the deal is proving to be increasingly challenging these days, which is a topic for another day. In part because of the increasingly changing photography landscape (more supply, less demand) and in part because Iām getting older and wanting to focus more on things I want to focus on, Iāve been turning a bit more towards calling myself, and acting like, an artist.
While this artful pivot is still a slow-moving work-in-progress, Iām finding my brain is becoming a bit more in tune with the things needed to move down the path towards art. Things that a younger me would decide are deal-breakers, an older me sees more as fun challenges and absurd realities that can further fuel my drive to create things. I realize Iām being quite vague here, however, most of what Iām referencing boils down to sales. Things I rather dislike about my current reality in the commercial photography world (selling yourself by any means possible) are also things that successful (not always good) artists also understand and excel at. Always Be Closing.
I have no idea if Iāll ever become a successful artist, as taking myself seriously enough is a challenge I may never overcome. Pricing an image or art piece at $10,000 because itās worth it is something I find much harder to do when the prospective buyer is the general public, as it immediately rules out 99% of the population and means your buyer will be a rich collector or investor type, and I fancy myself more a man of the people. Defense Mechanism Alert!
But who am I kidding, really? I currently sell my images for $10,000 to corporations, who can afford it, while thinking this is a more justified and acceptable path. Is it?
via Allison Schragerās Known Unknowns substack:
Becoming a successful artist these days takes jumping through a series of hoops: the Yale MFA, showing at the right galleries, andāif you are luckyābeing featured at events like the Biennial. It is hard to imagine that anyone who works at any of these places would indulge an artist who doesnāt adhere to the doctrine.
But that is also the case for many of our most elite institutions, in consulting, media, academiaā¦āpretty much everywhere. And the result is more predictability and less creativity. Donāt take this as an anti-woke rant. Some of the institutions I have in mind are not woke by any stretch, but they still demand a certain type of employee who went to a certain type of school and is conformist in nature. And this really matters in a winner-take-all economy, because climbing to the top of these institutions, or affiliation with them, is important, at least more important than it used to be. No wonder productivity is down.
I liked this quote above from Allison because it showcases how the art world is largely structured and guarded just like any other line of work. This idea is originally what kept away from the art world but these days is more so pushing me towards it.
My 40ās will be interesting as I have no idea where I will be in another ten years. The landscape may change so much Iāll be forced to move to a trade (certified arborist, here I come!) and leave photography altogether; or perhaps weāll all be living easy off our universal basic income checks. But for now: Fine, art.
-Clayton
2024 05 16
A photo a day keeps the doctor away.
Have I said this before? Probably so. Itās getting to be the time in this daily brain dump where I start repeating myself without even realizing it.
Anyway, I did just notice that there is a severe lack of cats featured on this here photo blog, so needed to address this dire situation.
-Clayton
Cat on stairs. Nashville, Tennessee. May, 2024. Ā© Clayton Hauck
A photo a day keeps the doctor away.
Have I said this before? Probably so. Itās getting to be the time in this daily brain dump where I start repeating myself without even realizing it.
Anyway, I did just notice that there is a severe lack of cats featured on this here photo blog, so needed to address this dire situation.
-Clayton
2024 03 11
May all your problems be boring
One of my favorite writers dropped a new substack (lol) that hit close to home. Tim Kreider is one of those writers who makes writing look fun and easy, like maybe something I could do if I put my mind to it. This is not to say I think writing is easy, but an appreciation of his skill for making it appear to be so. Like a person living a simple-yet-interesting life while occasionally heading to the computer to jot down some words along the way in exchange for money to keep the whole operation going. Are we allowed to start a sentance with the word like? I donāt know, Iām only a pretend writer.
Getting old is on my mind basically all the time now. Having just celebrated yet another birthday in what seems to be an increasingly-faster routine of numbers going up. Forty snuck up on me, as the end of my thirties was spent locked down in our house waiting out a global pandemic. This seems unfair to me but my problems are probably not so interesting to you. Instead, take a moment to read Timās birthday wish contemplating life and getting older below.
ā”ļø On Boring Problems
The former alderman is now retired and his suburban-style home, built thanks to being an insider able to bend the system to his own wishes, has seemingly moved on to places unknown. Time keeps on slipping.
Humboldt Park, Chicago, Illinois. February, 2024. Ā© Clayton Hauck
May all your problems be boring
One of my favorite writers dropped a new substack (lol) that hit close to home. Tim Kreider is one of those writers who makes writing look fun and easy, like maybe something I could do if I put my mind to it. This is not to say I think writing is easy, but an appreciation of his skill for making it appear to be so. Like a person living a simple-yet-interesting life while occasionally heading to the computer to jot down some words along the way in exchange for money to keep the whole operation going. Are we allowed to start a sentance with the word like? I donāt know, Iām only a pretend writer.
Getting old is on my mind basically all the time now. Having just celebrated yet another birthday in what seems to be an increasingly-faster routine of numbers going up. Forty snuck up on me, as the end of my thirties was spent locked down in our house waiting out a global pandemic. This seems unfair to me but my problems are probably not so interesting to you. Instead, take a moment to read Timās birthday wish contemplating life and getting older below.
ā”ļø On Boring Problems
2024 01 02
Still here! Keeping things brief is the key to longevity. Letās not get too ambitious too soon, thatās how burnout happens.
Iāve always preferred horizontal images. Vertical images have a place, though. Like here on a mobile phone where you are definitely seeing this! Meow.
-Clayton
Cat in window (Mr. Peepers). November, 2023. Chicago. Ā©Clayton Hauck
Still here! Keeping things brief is the key to longevity. Letās not get too ambitious too soon, thatās how burnout happens.
Iāve always preferred horizontal images. Vertical images have a place, though. Like here on a mobile phone where you are definitely seeing this! Meow.
-Clayton