2025 07 01
Dead plant. Chicago, Illinois. June, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
While out doing yard work this morning, I was pondering the idea of time, and how it’s so beneficial to work on tasks with the figurative wind at your back. It took me hours to give our yard a minimal dose of needed water, as I aim to help the plants I wish to thrive grow as big as they can in the time they have. Had Mother Nature decided to do the job for me, it would have been completed in mere minutes without my assistance. This may be an obvious observation, but lately I’m using this analogy quite a lot in my own life. As my list of tasks grows larger than possible to accomplish as one person, I can either choose triage or expand my capabilities through the help of others. Neglect is, of course, also an option. Like this plant, parts of my life will wither and die, with likely undesired weeds taking their place.
The garden is life. Everything can be compared to the garden.
-Clayton
2025 06 28
Moonlight through bare trees. Chicago, Illinois. March, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
Take more photos of people! Nobody wants to look at the moon!
I get it, I get it.
Another Paulie B banger popped into my feed today, with photographer Andrew McEnaney, and it really inspired me to get more people into my personal work. It’s a work in progress, I swear! But it’s coming. Until then, you can enjoy the moon photos. Or not, that’s up to you.
-Clayton
2025 06 27
Another Busted Car. Chicago, Illinois. May, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
As I post another Busted Car image to this here blog (content!), I’m reminded of this banger Noah Kalina post from a few days back.
-Clayton
2025 06 26
Another Mr Peepers. Chicago, Illinois. May, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
It’s been too long since a Mr Peepers has made an appearance on this here blog.
-Clayton
2025 06 23
Another day, another busted car. Chicago, Illinois. September, 2024. © Clayton Hauck
This is one of my favorite Busted Cars. I know I keep saying it, but I really do think a zine is needed to house these images. If only I’d been neatly organizing them on my hard drives. I need to get on the cloud or whatever y’all are using to search your image libraries these days.
-Clayton
2025 06 12
Summer storms are the best. Chicago, Illinois. May, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
Lately, as I struggle to check all the things off of my daily mental to-do list, I’ve been finding myself walking around the house saying, “One thing at a time!”
Really, it’s a dozen things at a time, but if I just tell myself one thing at a time, perhaps I will eventually listen?
-Clayton
2025 06 11
Haley and Allison. Chicago, Illinois. May, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
Short one today, as I am knee deep in tasks. Taking a moment to appreciate these two lovely people I have in my life. As I get older, it becomes increasingly clear just how necessary it is to have loving and supporting people in your life. It’s something I neglected for years, as I spent far too much time focused on myself and advancing my own interests. Sure, I’m still full of interests and realistically take on more than I can handle, but if it wasn’t for these two, who knows how damaged my brain would be at this point.
-Clayton
2025 06 09
Buddy, the dog. Chicago, Illinois. 2025. © Clayton Hauck
This will not become a dog blog; this will not become a dog blog; this will not become a dog blog.
That said, we have a dog now! Or, at least, we are co-parenting a dog now. Buddy, the dog. He’s the best. He’s a weirdo. And surely I will be making many more photos of the dude. But I promise not to post any of them here. Unless they’re too good not to, of course.
-Clayton
2025 06 08
Business, man. Chicago, Illinois. April, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
Today, Sunday, I was supposed to work but decided to take the day off, still exhausted from the shoot that wrapped the day prior. Making photos for a living has evolved quite dramatically in the twenty-odd years I’ve been doing it. Things move much faster and expectations are far higher, these days.
One quick story I’m reminded of that made me laugh:
My friend, and fellow commercial photographer, decided to capture his son’s prom night through well-lit portraits. He grabbed a bunch of his equipment from the studio, brought it home and set it up, and made a bunch of photos as the kids were getting ready to head out for the night. The kids then expected him to send them the photos immediately, surely so they could post them to social media, as people do. My friend, however, does not work that way. These photos had to first go off to his retoucher for touch-ups and processing before they could be considered finished. A week, maybe two weeks, then you can see the images, kids!
It’s both interesting and depressing to consider how value of images is lost, often immediately, by the inevitable passing of time. Like a new car driving off the lot, the photos you made last night that had everyone so excited, are often forgotten next day.
Last week, I had a stylist email me asking to see images from a campaign we shot a decade ago (!). My first thought was to laugh about how little value those images must have now. It was the largest budget for any production in my entire career, but after ten years, surely all of those images have met their end — replaced by cheaper images from nicer cameras, right? To my surprise, the stylist emailed back with some screen grabs she pulled off the client’s website, still proudly showing our decade-old images.
-Clayton
2025 06 06
Beer and a shot. Sportsman’s, Chicago, Illinois. February, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
Friday is for beers (even though I’m posting this on Monday, because I was busy working over the weekend, so treating today as a “working weekend day” to allow myself some mental and physical recovery — that all makes sense, right?).
This photo is special because they handed me this High Life and the label was applied upside-down, which made me feel like I won some kind of Golden Ticket For Alcoholics to tour the Wonka brewery factory.
-Clayton
2025 06 05
Church. Chicago, Illinois. May, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
Now that we have a Chicago Pope, I’m thinking of being Catholic again. I think I’ve taken enough photos of this church over the years to be forgiven for my sins.
-Clayton
2025 06 04
I am fashion! Chicago, Illinois. April, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
It’s cute to make this declaration in a nondescript storefront off Western Avenue across from the Shell station. But people gotta dream, and I commend them for it! I’ve got a dozen or so dreams cooking up right now myself and surely a few of them feel as silly to others as this one does to me.
Keep dreamin’
-Clayton
2025 06 03
Walking through a bygone era. Chicago, Illinois. May, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
I’ll admit it, I’ve been severely slacking on my Creative Resolution this year. Only a few days have I gone out with the Ricoh GRiii to make street photos. Not much to show for it, however, I do aim to work the camera into a commercial project later this week, which is a fun development as far as my camera equipment goes.
One ongoing realization I’ve had recently is that I already have a ridiculous amount of photos. It would probably be beneficial to spend more time publicizing my existing work and less time making new work. Alas, the act of photographing is far more enjoyable.
-Clayton
2025 06 02
Boys, on the move. Bucktown, Chicago, Illinois. June, 2025 © Clayton Hauck
Another image that has been nearly deleted a dozen times, but stuck around because it has a lil something I like. The something, I think, is a distinct feeling of early summer in Chicago. The weather has turned and things are happening; people are on the move. Plus, I just love the older buildings in the older neighborhoods of the city, like this one.
-Clayton
2025 06 01
Don’t Fret art. Chicago, Illinois. February, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
While Don’t Fret is no longer with us, he will live on, through his art and through his spirit, for some time.
We were in early production on a documentary about his life. While this project has been derailed, it will eventually be turned into something worthwhile. More on this another day. More on all of this, in fact, another day, as I surely have quite a lot more thoughts to share once I both find the time to share them and fully process the realities.
Until then, don’t fret.
-Clayton
PS- thank you to all who attended and helped plan the lovely memorial service
2025 05 30
A spring scene. Chicago, Illinois. April, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
Something about this snap speaks to me… I love the transitional times of year, when time shows its hand and nature leaves its mark. Soon the yard will get tidied up, fresh mulch will be laid and flowers will come and go, just in time time for earth’s rotation to once again shift and coldness to take hold again.
-Clayton
2025 05 29
Another Busted Car. Chicago, Illinois. March, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
It feels like an appropriate day for another Busted Car. While making this image on my walk home from work, a woman came out of her house and asked, clearly suspicious of my actions, “Why are you taking a photo of the car?”
“Art.” I replied, as I walked off into the sunset.
-Clayton
2025 05 26
Show me your point and shoot. Chicago, Illinois. March, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
One major reason I started this here blog was that I was finding myself spending far too much time consuming and not nearly enough time creating.
This video is filled with great little reminders about the importance of being creative and making things.
-Clayton
2025 05 24
North & Kedzie. Chicago, Illinois. March, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
Right angles and straight lines are easier.
Here’s a nice video that popped into my feed.
-Clayton