2024 11 06
Here we go again. Hold on to your butts. Last night was a gut punch for many of us, but here we are. Lots of people will have lots to say, with hindsight on their side, but I think my biggest takeaway is that we don’t have an effective opposition to Trump populism. The Democratic party is run by a largely-senile president who was pushed out of office against his own wishes and was nowhere to be seen throughout the election; along with a former president who is nowhere to be seen until it’s time to campaign for a few weeks leading up to the vote; along with a former Speaker who, while smart, is an 84-year old millionaire none of us can relate to or connect with. This isn’t the kind of leadership that wins elections and unless something changes, it will continue to happen over and over again.
Kamala was not a perfect candidate, but she ran a pretty dang good campaign, all things considered. Sure, she could’ve done many things differently, but I don’t think it would’ve changed the outcome one bit. It was an impossible task and now we live in a world where the only two female presidential candidates in our countries’ history have both been defeated by Donald Trump. It stings, bad. It’s a grim reality, but it is our reality and if we want it to change, we’ll need to stay engaged, stay focused, and stick together.
-Clayton
Today, we stare into the void. Chicago, Illinois. September, 2024. © Clayton Hauck
Here we go again. Hold on to your butts. Last night was a gut punch for many of us, but here we are. Lots of people will have lots to say, with hindsight on their side, but I think my biggest takeaway is that we don’t have an effective opposition to Trump populism. The Democratic party is run by a largely-senile president who was pushed out of office against his own wishes and was nowhere to be seen throughout the election; along with a former president who is nowhere to be seen until it’s time to campaign for a few weeks leading up to the vote; along with a former Speaker who, while smart, is an 84-year old millionaire none of us can relate to or connect with. This isn’t the kind of leadership that wins elections and unless something changes, it will continue to happen over and over again.
Kamala was not a perfect candidate, but she ran a decent campaign, all things considered. Sure, she could’ve done many things differently, but I don’t think it would’ve changed the outcome one bit. It was an impossible task and now we live in a world where the only two female presidential candidates in our countries’ history have both been defeated by Donald Trump. It stings, bad. It’s a grim reality, but it is our reality and if we want it to change, we’ll need to stay engaged, stay focused, and stick together.
-Clayton
PS - I think Jon sums it up well here, and Jonathan does a pretty entertaining job as well, below that:
2024 06 03
Another Monday, another Life Update:
I can’t believe I am saying this but I think I might be starting a podcast. Yes, I’m ten years late. No, I’m not doing it for the fame or to make money or to grow a following. Much like this blog, if it does happen it will be for personal growth and as a creative outlet. Hell, I may not even tell anyone it exists.
Planning a wedding continues to be time consuming as all hell. It is starting to feel like this entire year will be spent on this wedding. I don’t quite understand how this is possible.
I’m falling behind on my ambitions to be photographing an art photobook. Finding the time to get out and shoot and explore is proving to be more of a challenge than I expected, largely becuase
Running a studio is also time consuming. The good news is there have been more bookings lately so the space has been more of a net positive, financially speaking, which is good because
Commercial photo projects have been significantly slower this year. It’s beginning to weigh on me as it’s now June and things don’t feel like they are picking up much. I’m hearing a similar opinion from basically every other photographer I ask about it. Maybe I should open a bar? The good news is
Smaller shoots are still happening. I did a fun cocktail photo job last week along with a motion piece on Meadowlark which is now going thru the post-production process. Video is a ton of work and requires collaboration with others. On that note
I’m shooting two more video projects this week (one test, one exploratory documentary project) as I continue to pivot more into doing motion work. This has me pretty excited and I’ve been watching a silly amount of camera and gear videos on youtube to get myself up to speed on what technology is available these days.
-Clayton
Gull sizes me up, overlooking Lake Michigan. Chicago, Illinois. April, 2024.
Another Monday, another Life Update:
I can’t believe I am saying this but I think I might be starting a podcast. Yes, I’m ten years late. No, I’m not doing it for the fame or to make money or to grow a following. Much like this blog, if it does happen it will be for personal growth and as a creative outlet. Hell, I may not even tell anyone it exists.
Planning a wedding continues to be time consuming as all hell. It is starting to feel like this entire year will be spent on this wedding. I don’t quite understand how this is possible.
I’m falling behind on my ambitions to be photographing an art photobook. Finding the time to get out and shoot and explore is proving to be more of a challenge than I expected, largely becuase
Running a studio is also time consuming. The good news is there have been more bookings lately so the space has been more of a net positive, financially speaking, which is good because
Commercial photo projects have been significantly slower this year. It’s beginning to weigh on me as it’s now June and things don’t feel like they are picking up much. I’m hearing a similar opinion from basically every other photographer I ask about it. Maybe I should open a bar? The good news is
Smaller shoots are still happening. I did a fun cocktail photo job last week along with a motion piece on Meadowlark which is now going thru the post-production process. Video is a ton of work and requires collaboration with others. On that note
I’m shooting two more video projects this week (one test, one exploratory documentary project) as I continue to pivot more into doing motion work. This has me pretty excited and I’ve been watching a silly amount of camera and gear videos on youtube to get myself up to speed on what technology is available these days.
-Clayton
2024 02 13
I stumbled on this video over on twitter and it struck me as being great advice on writing. So much so I revisited it, now that I have this daily blog going, to take it in once again.
Teachers read your writing because they are being paid to do so. Once school is over, your writing needs to stand on it’s own. The only reason anyone will read your writing is if it has some value to them. Value can be entertainment; value can be information; value can be data mining to guess my bank password; but if it’s not valuable to the reader nothing else matters.
So yeah, I’m off to think up with some value for tomorrow’s post.
-Clayton
A steaming Lake Michigan as seen from Leone Beach on Chicago’s far north side on a frigid day. January, 2024 © Clayton Hauck
I stumbled on this video over on twitter and it struck me as being great advice on writing. So much so I revisited it, now that I have this daily blog going, to take it in once again.
Teachers read your writing because they are being paid to do so. Once school is over, your writing needs to stand on it’s own. The only reason anyone will read your writing is if it has some value to them. Value can be entertainment; value can be information; value can be data mining to guess my bank password; but if it’s not valuable to the reader nothing else matters.
So yeah, I’m off to think up with some value for tomorrow’s post.
-Clayton