2024 09 17
Well, shucks. My streak of posting every day ended at just over two-hundred and fifty consecutive days. While this bums me out, I also picked up a wife in my absence so I am calling it a win! The week of chaos leading up to our wedding on Saturday proved too much to overcome and I decided that some things are more important than posting silly pictures to the internet.
Annoyingly, Squarespace only allows up to 250 images in the image gallery, which we have now surpassed, and I’m not sure my best solution moving forward. This further demoralized me and caused me to consider something new moving forward. No decisions have been made thus far, so I will attempt to get back into the swing of a daily post and see where life takes me as I attempt to get back into the normal routines of not being the center of attention and having a million tasks being asked of you each and every day.
Also, I’m married!!
-Clayton
Haley and Allison prior to enjoying some Gene & Jude's hot dogs. River Grove, Illinois. July, 2024. © Clayton Hauck
Well, shucks. My streak of posting every day ended at just over two-hundred and fifty consecutive days. While this bums me out, I also picked up a wife in my absence so I am calling it a win! The week of chaos leading up to our wedding on Saturday proved too much to overcome and I decided that some things are more important than posting silly pictures to the internet.
Annoyingly, Squarespace only allows up to 250 images in the image gallery, which we have now surpassed, and I’m not sure my best solution moving forward. This further demoralized me and caused me to consider something new moving forward. No decisions have been made thus far, so I will attempt to get back into the swing of a daily post and see where life takes me as I attempt to get back into the normal routines of not being the center of attention and having a million tasks being asked of you each and every day.
Also, I’m married!!
-Clayton
2024 02 21
The ongoing Palestine-Israel war has me thinking of this skit quite a lot lately, for reasons we won’t get much into on this blog.
Look, it’s a complicated, tragic topic and one we could go on about for hours, but I’m doing my best not to turn this space into a geopolitics blog despite my constant temptation to do so.
One thing I do want to briefly discuss is this feeling I have about the war. I think the US and Israel were largely caught off-guard by the massive amount of pushback they have gotten by their own citizens, furious by what we are doing in their names. It’s almost like they dusted off the 9/11 Playbook and used the same script but then were shocked that the multiple years of leeway American’s gave the Bush Administration before turning their backs on the project were depleted within a few days this time around. Obviously, the situation is not the same, however, I get the sense that this time is different largely for symbolic reasons. Many young Americans relate with the Palestinians in a metaphirc sense. It’s a population being suppressed and dominated by an older, more powerful male-dominated state which they mostly don’t relate with. They have no real opportunity in life, no prospects, unless they go somewhere else and not be a nuisance. Justified or not, I think a lot of young Americans probably look at the Palestinians and relate with them a whole lot more than they do with Israel. Even if siding with Hamas is rooting against your own side, in a sense, it’s still rooting for the suppressed underdog you know.
Let’s not be the baddies, is all I want to say beyond this.
-Clayton
PS- if you do want to start a Geopolitics Club, hit me up! Been threatening this for a while now, might actually be time to make it happen.
Gene & Judes, a Chicago hot dog institution. River Grove, Illinois. January, 2024.
The ongoing Palestine-Israel war has me thinking of this skit quite a lot lately, for reasons we won’t get much into on this blog.
Look, it’s a complicated, tragic topic and one we could go on about for hours, but I’m doing my best not to turn this space into a geopolitics blog despite my constant temptation to do so.
One thing I do want to briefly discuss is this feeling I have about the war. I think the US and Israel were largely caught off-guard by the massive amount of pushback they have gotten by their own citizens. It’s almost like they dusted off the 9/11 Playbook and used the same script but then were surprised that the multiple years of leeway Americans gave the Bush Administration before turning their backs on the invasion were depleted within a few days this time around. Obviously, the situation is not the same, however, I get the sense that this time is different largely for symbolic reasons. Many young Americans relate with the Palestinians in a metaphirc sense. It’s a population being suppressed and dominated by an older, more powerful male-dominated state which they don’t relate with. Palestinians largely have no real opportunity in life, no prospects, unless they go somewhere else and not be a nuisance. Justified or not, I think a lot of young Americans probably look at the Palestinians and relate with them a whole lot more than they do with Israel. If siding with Hamas is rooting against your own team, in a sense, it’s still rooting for the suppressed underdog you know.
Anyway. Let’s not be the baddies. Back to photography tomorrow?
-Clayton
PS- if you do want to start a Geopolitics Club, hit me up! Been threatening this for a while now, might actually be time to make it happen.
2024 02 20
Friend and fellow photographer Jack Garland recently posted this great short feature on photographer Matt Black which got me inspired in a number of ways.
Preface: the main reason for this post was to share the piece, which is linked below, so skip ahead and watch that unless you want to also read me rambling about myself for the remainder. It is my therapy session (blog), after all.
Feeling at a crossroads in my own career due to the business of commercial photography being in a confused state, with AI on the rise, less work and lower budgets generally, and becoming older myself, I spend a lot of time scheming on what I should be focusing my time on. This isn’t a very efficient way to get things done, all the thinking, that is, but I tend to go all-in on things once I decide it’s the way to go so it is perhaps smart to think a bit before jumping into the deep end.
In no particular order, some thoughts that struck me while watching the video were: I should shoot more black & white. I’m always so drawn to color but it’s probably best to expand my horizons and experiment more; traveling and photographing is something I really, really love and maybe should make this more of my focus. It’s a compromise though in many ways (time consuming, being away from people, expensive, no guaranteed success) so I always resist dedicating more time to it and taking it seriously; traveling the entire state of Illinois might be a fun compromise and interesting challenge. Maybe a good photo book project I can put a few years’ effort into while not being too far from home. It would greatly aide in my eventual run for governor as well; maybe it’s time to cut the commercial work off for a while and figure out what most resonates with me as a person. Live as an artist. Make work for myself; do more video work just like this video piece. It was really well done and exactly the kind of thing that inspired me to become a photographer from the start; take the wandering-man-with-camera video angle many people are doing on youtube to much success but elevating it a bit, getting deeper and more artistic with it; write more, like Matt in the video. Write about what I’m experiencing. Maybe this is where I’m already heading with this blog? Maybe it becomes part of a photo book project? Maybe the writing becomes the work?; get more invested into the world of art photography and open a photo book store. It’s an idea I’ve been stewing on for a while now and one I still like. Creating a home for photography-obsessed people such as myself seems like a smart move in many ways, while also being a bit of a vague business model and perhaps less sustainable as it needs to be while sucking up all my time in the process.
Clearly, lots of thinking going on in the old brain of mine. I thought it would be nice to get some of the thoughts down on paper and toss them into the world. Surely I will expand on some of them in the coming weeks.
-Clayton
A tree sits alongside River Rd, slightly illuminated from a passing vehicle. River Grove, Illinois. January, 2024. © Clayton Hauck
This image was extended to accomodate a square crop using AI and was edited in my interpretation of a Matt Black / Jack Garland style.
Friend and fellow photographer Jack Garland recently posted this great short feature on photographer Matt Black which got me inspired in a number of ways.
Preface: the main reason for this post was to share the piece, which is linked below, so skip ahead and watch that unless you want to also read me rambling about myself for the remainder. It is my therapy session (blog), after all.
Feeling at a crossroads in my own career due to the business of commercial photography being in a confused state, with AI on the rise, less work and lower budgets generally, and becoming older myself, I spend a lot of time scheming on what I should be focusing my time on. This isn’t a very efficient way to get things done, all the thinking, that is, but I tend to go all-in on things once I decide it’s the way to go so it is perhaps smart to think a bit before jumping into the deep end.
In no particular order, some thoughts that struck me while watching the video were: I should shoot more black & white. I’m always so drawn to color but it’s probably best to expand my horizons and experiment more; Traveling and photographing is something I really, really love and maybe should make this more of my focus. It’s a compromise though in many ways (time consuming, being away from people, expensive, no guaranteed success) so I always resist dedicating more time to it and taking it seriously; Traveling the entire state of Illinois might be a fun compromise and interesting challenge. Maybe a good photo book project I can put a few years’ effort into while not being too far from home. It would greatly aide in my eventual run for governor as well; Maybe it’s time to cut the commercial work off for a while and figure out what most resonates with me as a person. Live as an artist. Make work solely for myself; Do more video work just like this video piece. It was really well done and exactly the kind of thing that inspired me to become a photographer from the start; Take the wandering-man-with-camera video angle many people are doing on youtube to much success but elevating it a bit, getting deeper and more artistic with it; Write more, like Matt in the video. Write about what I’m experiencing. Maybe this is where I’m already heading with this blog? Maybe it becomes part of a photo book project? Maybe the writing becomes the work?; Get more invested into the world of art photography and open a photo book store. It’s an idea I’ve been stewing on for a while now and one I still like. Creating a home for photography-obsessed people such as myself seems like a smart move in many ways, while also being a bit of a vague business model and perhaps less sustainable as it needs to be while sucking up all my time in the process.
Clearly, lots of thinking going on in the old brain of mine. I thought it would be nice to get some of the thoughts down on paper and toss them into the world. Surely I will expand on some of them in the coming weeks, months, or years.
-Clayton
Beyond the video above, here’s a link to another great talk featuring wisdom and images from the talented Matt Black.