2024 08 23
I woke up this morning after an exhausting day of photography yesterday. My 5:30am call-time to location an hour away without traffic meant a 3:30am wake up and only a few hours of non-consecutive sleep. This sort of approach works once in a while but is impossible to sustain. I woke up this morning (luckily today is an off day which I will use to catch up on everything before leaving town tomorrow morning for another gig out east) and my phone showed me some interesting thoughts from Haruki Murakami on writing:
I get up early and focus solely on writing for five to six hours every single day. Thinking that hard and long about things, your brain gets overheated (with my scalp literally getting hot at times), so after that I need to give my head a rest. That's why I spend my afternoons napping, enjoying music, reading innocuous books. That kind of life, though, gets you out of shape physically, so every day I spend about an hour outdoors exercising. That sets me up for the next day's work. Day after day, without exception, I repeat this cycle.
Murakami is clearly dedicated to his craft and committed enough to stick to such a rigid routine. Comparing this to myself, I do agree that a large part of why Iāve been relatively successful as a photographer is because Iāve allocated a huge amount of my time to the craft. Day after day, year after year, relentless taking, making, editing, and looking at photos. I am not as focused as Murakami, though, and have an endless succession of new hobbies and side projects to distract me. These things likely also keep me sane and able to continue making photography my main career, but I do also wonder if they restrict me from getting to an ultimately higher place within the filed. While itās nice to make a living from the craft, my real end goal is to achieve something more, and previously I was not on any sort of path to do this. Iām not sure I am now either but am, at least, considering this.
He went on:
I'm a very patient type of person, I think, when it comes to that kind of process. Still, at times I do get fed up with it and hate it. But as I work away, persevering day after dayālike a bricklayer carefully laying one brick on top of anotherāI reach a certain point where I get the definite feeling that when all is said and done, a writer is exactly what I am. And I accept that feeling as something good, something to be celebrated. The slogan of AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) in the US is "One day at a time," and that's exactly what this is like. Maintaining a set rhythm, steadily hauling in one day after the other and sending them on their way. Silently continue to do this and at a certain point something happens inside you. But it takes time to reach this point.
One day at a time, Clayton. One day at a time. I am a photographer. Who also wants to be a writer, and a bar owner, and a director, and a venue manager, and a youtuber, and a podcaster, and a blogger, and a journalist, and a musician, and an arborist. I am a photographer. One day at a time.
-Clayton
Chef Christian Hunter of Atelier. Chicago, Illinois. February, 2024. Ā© Clayton Hauck
I woke up early yesterday morning for an exhausting day of photography. My 5:30am call-time to location an hour away without traffic meant a 3:30am wake up and only a few hours of non-consecutive sleep. This sort of approach works once in a while but is impossible to sustain. I woke up this morning (luckily today is an off day which I will use to catch up on everything before leaving town tomorrow morning for another gig out east) and my phone showed me some interesting thoughts from Haruki Murakami on writing:
I get up early and focus solely on writing for five to six hours every single day. Thinking that hard and long about things, your brain gets overheated (with my scalp literally getting hot at times), so after that I need to give my head a rest. That's why I spend my afternoons napping, enjoying music, reading innocuous books. That kind of life, though, gets you out of shape physically, so every day I spend about an hour outdoors exercising. That sets me up for the next day's work. Day after day, without exception, I repeat this cycle.
Murakami is clearly dedicated to his craft and committed enough to stick to such a rigid routine. Comparing this to myself, I do agree that a large part of why Iāve been relatively successful as a photographer is because Iāve allocated a huge amount of my time to the craft. Day after day, year after year, relentless taking, making, editing, and looking at photos. I am not as focused as Murakami, though, and have an endless succession of new hobbies and side projects to distract me. These things likely also keep me sane and able to continue making photography my main career, but I do also wonder if they restrict me from getting to an ultimately higher place within the filed. While itās nice to make a living from the craft, my real end goal is to achieve something more, and previously I was not on any sort of path to do this. Iām not sure I am now either but am, at least, considering this.
He went on:
I'm a very patient type of person, I think, when it comes to that kind of process. Still, at times I do get fed up with it and hate it. But as I work away, persevering day after dayālike a bricklayer carefully laying one brick on top of anotherāI reach a certain point where I get the definite feeling that when all is said and done, a writer is exactly what I am. And I accept that feeling as something good, something to be celebrated. The slogan of AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) in the US is "One day at a time," and that's exactly what this is like. Maintaining a set rhythm, steadily hauling in one day after the other and sending them on their way. Silently continue to do this and at a certain point something happens inside you. But it takes time to reach this point.
One day at a time, Clayton. One day at a time. I am a photographer. Who also wants to be a writer, and a bar owner, and a director, and a venue manager, and a youtuber, and a podcaster, and a blogger, and a journalist, and a musician, and an arborist. I am a photographer. One day at a time.
-Clayton
2024 08 03
As a longtime obsessive news reader, Iāve been hard on myself for shifting increasingly more towards youtube in recent years. A big part of why I started this blog was because I was concerned about the amount of time I was spending consuming youtube vs. creating art of my own. That said, Iām still wildly pro youtube and am amazed by the amount of top notch, well-written, interesting, and informative content (not to mention entertaining) which is available on the website. As with anything in life, balance is crucial and avoiding rabbit holes or becoming radicalized is always to be monitored.
The recent Trump assassination attempt has been on my mind a lot and continues to be wildly confusing and concerning, not because I think I know what really happened or how it happened, but simply because it happened at all, regardless the cause. The video linked below by RealLifeLore does a really nice job of summarizing the long list of assassination attempts against sitting presidents and people in important positions. Many of the events mentioned I had completely forgotten about or didnāt even know happened! When they are all recapped in quick succession, it makes the history sound so much more insane.
I enjoy considering historic events and why they happen while endlessly ruminating on it inside the ole brain of mine, even if Iām not āgetting to the bottom of thingsā. Did you know a former mayor of Chicago Anton Cermak was assassinated while sitting next to then president-elect of the United States Franklin D. Roosevelt? Had that single bullet struck its likely-intended target, the world would be a far different place today, and poor Anton wouldāve been able to return home to the greatest city in the world. What a world.
-Clayton
Image made for Chicago Magazine at the best new restaurant: Warlord. Chicago, Illinois. February, 2024. Ā© Clayton Hauck
As a longtime obsessive news reader, Iāve been hard on myself for shifting increasingly more towards youtube in recent years. A big part of why I started this blog was because I was concerned about the amount of time I was spending consuming youtube vs. creating art of my own. That said, Iām still wildly pro youtube and am amazed by the amount of top notch, well-written, interesting, and informative content (not to mention entertaining) which is available on the website. As with anything in life, balance is crucial and avoiding rabbit holes or becoming radicalized is always to be monitored.
The recent Trump assassination attempt has been on my mind a lot and continues to be wildly confusing and concerning, not because I think I know what really happened or how it happened, but simply because it happened at all, regardless the cause. The video linked below by RealLifeLore does a really nice job of summarizing the long list of assassination attempts against sitting presidents and people in important positions. Many of the events mentioned I had completely forgotten about or didnāt even know happened! When they are all recapped in quick succession, it makes the history sound so much more insane.
I enjoy considering historic events and why they happen while endlessly ruminating on it inside the ole brain of mine, even if Iām not āgetting to the bottom of thingsā. Did you know a former mayor of Chicago Anton Cermak was assassinated while sitting next to then president-elect of the United States Franklin D. Roosevelt? Had that single bullet struck its likely-intended target, the world would be a far different place today, and poor Anton wouldāve been able to return home to the greatest city in the world. What a world.
-Clayton
2024 06 02
Hello. I made this image while on assignment for a Chicago Magazine Best New Restaurants feature. They didnāt end up running any of the images I made at this restaurant, which is always a bit of a bummer, but I was quite happy with a few of them, esp the candid kitchen shots like this one. It wasnāt quite what the magazine wanted and I really only spent the time doing it while we waited for the dining room to fill up some more.
I need to get back out here and try their food. The bites the owner forced me to try were very delicious!
-Clayton
Chef Matteo Lo Bianco of Maman Zari. Chicago, Illinois. February, 2024. Ā© Clayton Hauck
Hello. I made this image while on assignment for a Chicago Magazine Best New Restaurants feature. They didnāt end up running any of the images I made at this restaurant, which is always a bit of a bummer, but I was quite happy with a few of them, esp the candid kitchen shots like this one. It wasnāt quite what the magazine wanted and I really only spent the time doing it while we waited for the dining room to fill up some more.
I need to get back out here and try their food. The bites the owner forced me to try were very delicious!
-Clayton
2024 04 09
After roughly twenty years in the business, itās rare I get to photograph a magazine cover (partly because magazines donāt really exist anymore) so it was an honor when my semi-regular client Chicago allowed me to do a cover shoot. My photography style tends to be a bit more gritty, dark, and authentic (agency buzz word alert!ā¦are you listening, SEO?), which doesnāt always fit well in the glossy world of heavily-retouched magazine rack images. Or at least thatās what I tell myself.
This image was made as part of a Best New Restaurants feature, which was a blast to be a part of and resulted in some great images.
While Iām still sort of feeling out what this particular website even is, Iām shying away from making it another commercial photography portfolio, so even sharing editorial images like this one doesnāt feel completely right. But weāll see!
Chef Christian Hunter of Atelier photographed for Chicago Magazine (and used as the cover image!). Chicago, Illinois. February, 2024. Ā© Clayton Hauck
After roughly twenty years in the business, itās rare I get to photograph a magazine cover (partly because magazines donāt really exist anymore) so it was an honor when my semi-regular client Chicago allowed me to do a cover shoot. My photography style tends to be a bit more gritty, dark, and authentic (agency buzz word alert!ā¦are you listening, SEO?), which doesnāt always fit well in the glossy world of heavily-retouched magazine rack images. Or at least thatās what I tell myself.
This image was made as part of a Best New Restaurants feature, which was a blast to be a part of and resulted in some great images.
While Iām still sort of feeling out what this particular website even is, Iām shying away from making it another commercial photography portfolio, so even sharing editorial images like this one doesnāt feel completely right. But weāll see!
On the topic of myself, one other idea I had was to do a series on Instagram reels going into a bit more detail on how I made specific images. Tips, tricks, and observations. That sort of thing. Is this something people want or am I merely stroking my ego and hunting for social engagement? I donāt know! Sorting out how to exist within the current digital media landscape is endlessly confusing and largely frustrating. I guess at the end of the day you should just do things that feel right to you and not like a blatant grab for internet fame.
What do you think? Is anyone reading this? Blogging is the future so surely there will soon be tens of dozens of people interested in leaving their opinions in the comment section below.
-Clayton