2024 10 26
This weekend, at my studio we:
Hosted a Creative Mornings event with 80 people in attendance
Hosted a honky tonk show for The Bobcat Boys with fifty or so people in attendance
Hosted a party for Show & Tell Me More, an early childhood development online course which films in our space.
Hosted a party for our neighbors to celebrate their childās one-year birthday
I am tired. Good thing itās almost Monday and Iām definitely not posting this a day late after just having watched the Bears lose an otherwise great game (second half, at least) on a bonehead hail mary defense. Having so much programming at the studio is fun but itās very much a full-time job.
-Clayton
Behind the camera during a portrait session at my See You Soon studio. Chicago, Illinois. July, 2024. Ā© Clayton Hauck
This weekend, at my studio we:
Hosted a Creative Mornings event with 80 people in attendance
Hosted a honky tonk show for The Bobcat Boys with fifty or so people in attendance
Hosted a party for Show & Tell Me More, an early childhood development online course which films in our space
Hosted a party for our neighbors to celebrate their childās one-year birthday
I am tired. Good thing itās almost Monday and Iām definitely not posting this a day late after just having watched the Bears lose an otherwise great game (second half, at least) on a bonehead hail mary defense. Having so much programming at the studio is fun but itās very much a full-time job.
-Clayton
2024 10 24
I live at my studio now. I donāt sleep there, but I live there. Itās a nice space and people ask me all the time if I live there. I do, I just happen to leave late at night to go to my second home to sleep before waking up early and returning to the studio. Itās, perhaps, not the most economically-sensible approach to life, but itās what I do.
See you at 7:30am (soon)!
-Clayton
Some filming going on at my studio space. Chicago, Illinois. May, 2024. Ā© Clayton Hauck
I live at my studio now. I donāt sleep there, but I live there. Itās a nice space and people ask me all the time if I live there. I do, I just happen to leave late at night to go to my second home to sleep before waking up early and returning to the studio. Itās, perhaps, not the most economically-sensible approach to life, but itās what I do.
See you at 7:30am (soon)!
-Clayton
2024 10 19
While out on a short getaway this week, I came to a realization that in the near future, everyone will be have a bed & breakfast. Itās really the perfect job for participants in todayās manic economy. You have not one measly job but quite literally all of the jobs, while being fully responsible for participating them twenty-four hours a day, three-hundred and sixty-five days a year (you get one day off every four years on February 29th).
I joke, but the joke it deeply rooted in my own reality. Photographers first and foremost need to be skilled not in the act of making nice images but in sales and marketing (along with finance, studio managing, tax accounting, law, etc). They donāt teach you this in art school, of course. The fun stuff (making photos) is a shockingly small portion of the time you spend being a photographer. If you are good enough at sales, you can get enough paid jobs to save up enough money, buy a dilapidated building in a small but charming midwest town, and then live the good life as full-time inn operator.
-Clayton
Photographers wear many hats. See You Soon. Chicago, Illinois. July, 2024. Ā© Clayton Hauck
While out on a short getaway this week, I came to a realization that in the near future, everyone will be have a bed & breakfast. Itās really the perfect job for participants in todayās manic economy. You have not one measly job but quite literally all of the jobs, while being fully responsible for participating in them twenty-four hours a day, three-hundred and sixty-five days a year (you get one day off every four years on February 29th).
I joke, but the joke is deeply rooted in my own reality. Photographers first and foremost need to be skilled not in the act of making nice images but in sales and marketing (along with client relations, finance, studio managing, tax accounting, law, etc). They donāt teach you this in art school, of course. The fun stuff (making photos) is a shockingly small portion of the time you spend being a photographer. If you are good enough at sales, you can get enough paid jobs to save up enough money, buy a dilapidated building in a small but charming midwest town, and then live the good life as full-time inn operator.
-Clayton
2024 10 02
Self-promotional Wednesday! Today, through next Wednesday, I am doing my āKeep it 100ā portrait setup at my See You Soon studio. If youāre in the Chicagoland area, check it out and come shoot with me! Itās a ton of fun, super affordable, the images are great, and Iām having a hell of a time getting people to come out for it!
Seriously, though, Iām being a bit hard on myself. Iāve already done at least fifty of these sessions if not many more (brain blur) but in my head the deal is so good there should be a line down the block. Iāll get up some more thoughts about all this later this week, I think.
In the meantime, click this link, book a session, and come shoot with me why donāt you?!
-Clayton
Portrait of Anne. Chicago, Illinois. July, 2024. Ā© Clayton Hauck
Self-promotional Wednesday! Today, through next Wednesday, I am doing my āKeep it 100ā portrait setup at my See You Soon studio. If youāre in the Chicagoland area, check it out and come shoot with me! Itās a ton of fun, super affordable, the images are great, and Iām having a hell of a time getting people to come out for it!
Seriously, though, Iām being a bit hard on myself. Iāve already done at least fifty of these sessions if not many more (brain blur) but in my head the deal is so good there should be a line down the block. Iāll get up some more thoughts about all this later this week, I think.
In the meantime, click this link, book a session, and come shoot with me why donāt you?!
-Clayton
2024 08 15
Hello. Iāve been quite busy lately and itās largely due to my studio and photography projects taking up all of my time. Canāt complain, just a little note to myself to make me feel less bad about neglecting my side projects, like this here blog. Anyway, hereās a dinosaur I spotted recently while working in my studio. Sometimes I donāt even need to leave the room and I can still make beautiful award-winning images (joke).
-Clayton
PS - Iāve got some really fun events coming up at the studioā¦ the place that is taking all of my time from me. Come out and hang, why donāt you?!
Dinosaurs walk amongst us, on The 606 Trail. Chicago, Illinois. July, 2024. Ā© Clayton Hauck
Hello. Iāve been quite busy lately and itās largely due to my studio and photography projects taking up all of my time. Canāt complain, just a little note to myself to make me feel less bad about neglecting my side projects, like this here blog. Anyway, hereās a dinosaur I spotted recently while working in my studio. Sometimes I donāt even need to leave the room and I can still make beautiful award-winning images (joke).
-Clayton
PS - Iāve got some really fun events coming up at the studioā¦ the place that is taking all of my time from me. Come out and hang, why donāt you?!
2024 08 09
Quick update, as Iām late to post today (busy, working, stuff, things) and dangerously close to missing my first day all year!
Potisitve: Ive been learning to print! Itās been fun, and expensive, and time consuming, and easy, and hard, and fun, and I like it. Most of what Iāve printed thus far is personal work which I havenāt shared anywhere yet. I also printed a new commercial photo portfolio, which looked great and ate up a ton of ink ($$). Hopefully it leads to a job or two to help pay for the time and expenses.
Negative: Money. Time. Just another thing to sink my limited time into for zero monetary upside (in reality, just a loss).
Positive: Iām getting excited about photography from a different perspective. I want to make zines and books and prints and do shows and print other peopleās work and have fun!
Long story short: as with everything, this new venture is a work-in-progress but one that Iām excited about. This post has been a reminder than I am behind schedule on releasing a new print into my The Camera You Have series. I am to do this next week and I will again give one away here on the ole blog. Stay tuned!
-Clayton
Some of my limited edition prints dubbed āThe Camera You Haveā photographed in my studio. Chicago, Illinois. July, 2024. Ā© Clayton Hauck
Quick update, as Iām late to post today (busy, working, stuff, things) and dangerously close to missing my first day all year!
Potisitve: Ive been learning to print! Itās been fun, and expensive, and time consuming, and easy, and hard, and fun, and I like it. Most of what Iāve printed thus far is personal work which I havenāt shared anywhere yet. I also printed a new commercial photo portfolio, which looked great and ate up a ton of ink ($$). Hopefully it leads to a job or two to help pay for the time and expenses.
Negative: Money. Time. Just another thing to sink my limited time into for zero monetary upside (in reality, just a loss).
Positive: Iām getting excited about photography from a different perspective. I want to make zines and books and prints and do shows and print other peopleās work and have fun!
Long story short: as with everything, this new venture is a work-in-progress but one that Iām excited about. This post has been a reminder than I am behind schedule on releasing a new print into my The Camera You Have series. I am to do this next week and I will again give one away here on the ole blog. Stay tuned!
-Clayton
2024 06 22
Hello loyal daily photo blog readers (mom & dad)! This coming week, and the week thereafter, I will be offering my insanely-priced $100 portrait sessions at the studio. If youāre in need of one-hundred unique new images of yourself, book a session and come shoot with me! Itās a ton of fun and Iāll soon be raising the price because this deal is going to lead me to financial ruin if I keep it up much longer.
Anyway, hope to see you soon!
-Clayton
Dinah, photographed in my āKeep It 100ā setup at my See You Soon studio. Chicago, Illinois. December, 2023. Ā© Clayton Hauck
Hello loyal daily photo blog readers (mom & dad)! This coming week, and the week thereafter, I will be offering my insanely-priced $100 portrait sessions at the studio. If youāre in need of one-hundred unique new images of yourself, book a session and come shoot with me! Itās a ton of fun and Iāll soon be raising the price because this deal is going to lead me to financial ruin if I keep it up much longer.
Anyway, hope to see you soon!
-Clayton
2024 05 07
Following my own advice from yesterdayās entry, I checked out another from Paulie Bās amazing Walkie Talkie series, this time featuring another photographer I was not previously familiar with by the name of Sara Messinger. I think the kids are alright! Beyond being introduced to another talented name, I loved the contrasting styles, approaches, and philosophies between Sara and Trevor, who was the previous subject of yesterdayās post. Throughout the entire forty-minute video, Iām not sure Sara made a single image, while Trevor finished like a dozen rolls and got into a few heated moments with strangers-who-became-subjects.
Partly why I loved this video with Sara is because she constantly reminded me of my own partner Allison, whereas Iām probably a bit more like Trevor. We all see the world a bit different and approach photography in our own ways. Itās also rather fascinating to contemplate how street photography has changed since I was their age wandering the streets with a camera. People these days are far more sensitive and aware about what might happen when a stranger makes a photo of them on the street without their consent.
Thatās a deeper debate for another day, but letās leave it there for now. Compete less; put yourself out there more; open yourself up to connect with your subjects as thatās how the magical moments are made. Thanks for your positive energy, Sara.
-Clayton
Dinah in front of the camera for my Keep it 100 portrait session. Chicago, Illinois. December, 2023. Ā© Clayton Hauck
Following my own advice from yesterdayās entry, I checked out another from Paulie Bās amazing Walkie Talkie series, this time featuring another photographer I was not previously familiar with by the name of Sara Messinger. I think the kids are alright! Beyond being introduced to another talented name, I loved the contrasting styles, approaches, and philosophies between Sara and Trevor, who was the previous subject of yesterdayās post. Throughout the entire forty-minute video, Iām not sure Sara made a single image, while Trevor finished like a dozen rolls and got into a few heated moments with strangers-who-became-subjects.
Partly why I loved this video with Sara is because she constantly reminded me of my own partner Allison, whereas Iām probably a bit more like Trevor. We all see the world a bit different and approach photography in our own ways. Itās also rather fascinating to contemplate how street photography has changed since I was their age wandering the streets with a camera. People these days are far more sensitive and aware about what might happen when a stranger makes a photo of them on the street without their consent.
Thatās a deeper debate for another day, but letās leave it there for now. Compete less; put yourself out there more; open yourself up to connect deeply with your subjects, as thatās how the magical moments are made. Thanks for your positive energy, Sara.
-Clayton
2024 03 18
Itās Monday. Back to workā¦
Hereās a little self promotion. I do a really fun portrait setup in my studio where I offer $100 portrait sessions in which participants get 100 unique photos of themselves. No AI, no fancy Photoshop tricks, just a unique approach to good old fashioned portrait photography.
ā”ļø You can check out more about the process, or book a session next time Iām offering it, here on the studio page.
-Clayton
Filmmaker & educator Anu Rana in my See You Soon studio as a subject in my Keep it 100 portrait setup. February, 2024. Ā© Clayton Hauck
Itās Monday. Back to workā¦
Hereās a little self promotion. I do a really fun portrait setup in my studio where I offer $100 portrait sessions in which participants get 100 unique photos of themselves. No AI, no fancy Photoshop tricks, just a unique approach to good old fashioned portrait photography.
-Clayton
2024 03 01
Tyler Perry is a billionaire and massively successful filmmaker. This is why, when he recently announced heās pausing plans to expand his Atlanta studio because of AI, people listened.
Tyler Perry Puts $800M Studio Expansion on Hold After Seeing OpenAIās Sora: āJobs Are Going to Be Lostā
I saw a wide range of responses to the headline online, from AI bros proclaiming movies will soon be fully automated, to others upset heās not investing a billion dollars into a film studio as a way to combat the rise of AI. Regardless of what you think about the headline, my guess is that the reality of his decision to halt work after surely spending millions of dollars on the project was made more for exesting economic reasons than because Sora released a few automated videos that look like a high end video game render. These AI videos, released only by the company that producing the renders and surely only gives us the best of the best, do look quite remarkable at a glance, on a phone, in low resolution ā and yes, it clearly shows where things are heading ā but I also donāt think weāre going to automate away our arts and entertainment despite it feeling like this is where we are heading.
Currently, the AI stories making the headlines are how good it is at making photos, videos, writing stories, graphic design, etc ā¦ all the fun and creative things humans enjoy doing. Whatās less exciting to read about is how AI can replace the less glamorous professions such as tax preparation, legal copyrighting, software coding, logistics.
Thereās no doubt AI is coming for all of us and will massively transform the world in the coming decade. Just look at the NVIDIA stock price and youāll see this is what the stock market believes. I think the AI revolution is already transforming corporate America in less obvious ways, namely employee headcount. Corporations are letting go and/or pausing hiring as they figure out all the ways to best implement AI into their corporate structure while replacing as many humans possible. The economy still feels relatively okay, but a storm is a brewinā.
Scott Galloway put out a nice piece (linked below) equating the corporate use of AI to the human use of diet drugs. We all do it, we just donāt like to talk about it.
Corporate Ozempic
I just wish I could automate a way to not think about AI so damn much these days.
-Clayton
Wow, itās been a lot of vertical images latelyā¦ Txa Txa Supper Club #30 at See You Soon Chicago. January, 2024. Ā© Clayton Hauck
Tyler Perry is a billionaire and massively successful filmmaker. This is why, when he recently announced heās pausing plans to expand his Atlanta studio because of AI, people listened.
ā”ļø Tyler Perry Puts $800M Studio Expansion on Hold After Seeing OpenAIās Sora: āJobs Are Going to Be Lostā
I saw a wide range of responses to the headline online, from AI bros proclaiming movies will soon be fully automated, to others upset heās not investing a billion dollars into a film studio as a way to combat the rise of AI. Regardless of what you think about the headline, my guess is that the reality of his decision to halt work after surely spending millions of dollars on the project was made more for exesting economic reasons than because Sora released a few automated videos that look like a high end video game render. These AI videos, released only by the company that is producing the renders (and surely only gives us the best of the best), do look quite remarkable at a glance, on a phone, in low resolution ā and yes, it clearly shows where things are heading ā but I also donāt think weāre going to fully automate away our arts and entertainment despite it sort of feeling like this is where we are heading.
Currently, the AI stories making the headlines are how good it is at making photos, videos, writing stories, graphic design, etc ā¦ all the fun and creative things humans enjoy doing. Whatās less exciting to read about is how AI can replace the less glamorous professions such as tax preparation, legal copyrighting, software coding, logistics.
Thereās no doubt in my mind that AI is coming for all of us and will massively transform the world in the coming decade (if not this year). Just look at the NVIDIA stock price and youāll see this is what the stock market believes. I think the AI revolution (a new Industrial Revolution) is already transforming corporate America in less obvious ways: namely employee headcount. Corporations are letting go and/or pausing hiring as they figure out all the ways to best implement AI into their corporate structure while replacing as many humans possible. The economy still feels relatively okay, but a storm is a brewinā. These changes arenāt yet mainstream news stories but I think soon everyone will start to feel the effects of someone they know losing a job because it is, at least attempting to be, outsourced to artificial intelligence.
Scott Galloway put out a nice piece (linked below) equating the corporate use of AI to the human use of diet drugs. We all do it, we just donāt like to talk about it.
ā”ļø Corporate Ozempic
I just wish I could automate a way to not think about AI so damn much these days.
-Clayton
PS - want to dig into this even further and get even more depressed? This video is worth your time and paints a largely bleak picture about our not-too-distant futures
PPS - My CPU is a neural net processor; a learning computer!
2024 02 27
Conversation:
Woman: There was a possum in my yard today.
Man: You mean an opossum?
Woman: No, a possum.
Man: Well, I think the word is actually spelled with an o, therefore for youād say an opossum.
Woman: Yeah, well Iām not an fucking idiot. Itās a possum.
Artist and studio neighbor Emmy Star Brown with her dog Ralphie stop by my See You Soon studio for a chat. Chicago, Illinois. January, 2024 Ā© Clayton Hauck
Conversation:
Woman: There was a possum in my yard today.
Man: You mean an opossum?
Woman: No, a possum.
Man: Well, I think the word is actually spelled with an o, therefore for youād say an opossum.
Woman: Yeah, well Iām not an fucking idiot. Itās a possum.
2024 01 21
*Warning: Political Content*
While I have no idea how this upcoming political election will play out, other than it being an unbearable experience for most of us, I wanted to air some thoughts on the topic.
Preface: Local politics have vastly more impact to most of us and are surprisingly easy to get involved in and make a difference. Of course, they are also wildly boring and therefor almost universally ignored. On that note, letās chat about the Big Ticket Item, the president of the united states!
One angle that I think gets mostly forgotten or overlooked in US political discourse is: things change. Both the Democratic and Republican parties were vastly different not that long ago as they are made up of varying coalition of groups, interests, rich people, corporations, etc. My skrewball vision over the last few years is that weād soon see the rise of a third viable party in this country ā which would be a progressive/socialist party fueled by the anger of young, disenfranchised, and āleft behindā voters ā while the traditional conservative strong-government stability-rules types would side with an increasingly-conservative Democratic party (mostly because they still have the old power structures firmly in place) and the MAGA burn-the-system folks would complete their takeover of the Republican party.
While I have no love for Trump or the party he has commandeered, one thing I give Republicans credit for is having a bit of flexibility. Most of us had no confidence that Trump would actually win the nomination and become president. Even after he demolished the competition, debate after debate, we thought surely there would be something to stop this mess from happening. The same thing was playing out on the other side and thatās exactly what did happen! The Dems, terrified of losing their grip on the levers of power to an unknown, Independent entity named Bernie, used all their sway to make sure he didnāt take control away from them like Obama had done eight years prior. These two decisions: the GOP deciding to listen to voters and the Dems doing their best to ignore them, is likely what gave Trump the victory. If it does not bend, it will break.
So what happens next? Apparently the Supreme Court (which Trump largely installed) will tell us in the coming weeks after they decide whether states get to decide who goes on the ballot. You know, typical democracy will-of-the-voters stuff!
The political landscape of this country has shifted before and it is currently shifting again. How it ends nobody yet knows, but the parties that largely control our political destiny will not be the same as they are now forever.
Iām linking below a recent video from my favorite geopolitics writer Peter Zeihan which I think does a nice job summing up not how things have changed, might play out, and surely will get even weirder.
Vote!
-Clayton
Portrait of a participant at a Beer & Cameras event I hosted at my See You Soon studio. Novermber 12, 2023. Ā© Clayton Hauck
*Warning: Political Content*
While I have no idea how this upcoming political election will play out, other than it being an unbearable experience for most of us, I wanted to air some thoughts on the topic.
Preface: Local politics have vastly more impact to most of us and are surprisingly easy to get involved in and make a difference. Of course, they are also wildly boring and therefor almost universally ignored. On that note, letās chat about the Big Ticket Item, the president of the United States!
One angle that I think gets mostly forgotten or overlooked in US political discourse is: things change. Both the Democratic and Republican parties were vastly different not that long ago as they are made up of varying coalition of groups, interests, rich people, corporations, etc. My skrewball vision over the last few years is that weād soon see the rise of a third viable party in this country ā which would be a progressive/socialist party fueled by the anger of young, disenfranchised, and āleft behindā voters ā while the traditional conservative strong-government stability-rules types would side with an increasingly-conservative Democratic party (mostly because they still have the old power structures firmly in place) and the MAGA burn-the-system folks would complete their takeover of the Republican party.
While I have no love for Trump or the party he has commandeered, one thing I give Republicans credit for is having a bit of flexibility. Most of us had no confidence that Trump would actually win the nomination and become president. Even after he demolished the competition, debate after debate, we thought surely there would be something to stop this mess from happening. The same thing was playing out on the other side and thatās exactly what did happen! The Dems, terrified of losing their grip on the levers of power to an unknown, Independent entity named Bernie, used all their sway to make sure he didnāt take control away from them like Obama had done eight years prior. These two decisions: the GOP deciding to listen to voters and the Dems doing their best to ignore them, is likely what gave Trump the victory. If it does not bend, it will break.
So what happens next? Apparently the Supreme Court (which Trump largely installed) will tell us in the coming weeks after they decide whether states get to decide who goes on the ballot. You know, typical democracy will-of-the-voters stuff!
The political landscape of this country has shifted before and it is currently shifting again. How it ends nobody yet knows, but the parties that largely control our political destiny will not be the same as they are now forever.
Iām linking below a recent video from my favorite geopolitics writer Peter Zeihan which I think does a nice job (although I disagree with him that Trump canāt win) summing up how things have changed, might play out, and surely will get even weirder.
Vote!
-Clayton