2025 02 25
Eggs. Chicago, Illinois. January, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
This is not a political blog…
-Clayton
2025 02 24
Streator, Illinois. November, 2024. © Clayton Hauck
Lately, I’ve been pondering excessively about what to focus my energies towards. Fortunately, I think my self-imposed marching orders have more or less been made and I am now on a path, for the remainder of the year at least, to see where it takes me.
One deterrent to creating new work is the internal struggle towards judging the work you haven’t yet created! Will it be unique enough? Will it be original? Will it stand out in a world so saturated with content it’s quite impossible to even comprehend!? The quote below, while clearly written in a time prior to social media, Ai, and content factories, helped bring some sanity to my overworked brain:
"Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it."
-C.S. Lewis
-Clayton
2025 02 22
Woman in window. Chicago, Illinois. January, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
Watching the world go by.
-Clayton
2025 02 21
Another Christmas tree to toss into the landfill. Chicago, Illinois. January, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
2025 02 18
I’m doing a lot of thinking and researching into video lately as I re-shape my approach to photography back towards motion-first. As always, doing the work and putting in the reps are vastly more important than anything you will learn sitting on the couch, however, I must say I am a bit humbled by the sheer level of quality being displayed by some young youtube video creators these days. The quality of work being made by one person in a bedroom is now equal to what a team of specialists would be called in for not long ago. Time, of course, is still the required x-factor, but Ai will continue to put a dent into that part of the equation as well.
The video below by Gawx is both a fourteen-minute long ad for laptops and a beautiful video about art and creation. It is both infuriating and mesmerizing. It is both an example of what I should be focusing my own career towards and everything I hate about what I do. It’s complicated, impressive, and seemingly has broken my brain.
What I keep thinking about is my own career path.
Have you had your ad break today? Chicago, Illinois. January, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
I’m doing a lot of thinking and researching into video lately as I re-shape my approach to photography back towards motion-first. As always, doing the work and putting in the reps are vastly more important than anything you will learn sitting comfortably on the couch, however, I must say I am a bit humbled by the sheer level of quality being displayed by some young youtube video creators these days. The quality of work being made by one person in a bedroom is now equal to what a team of specialists would be called in for not long ago. Time, of course, is still the required x-factor, but Ai will continue to put a dent into that part of the equation as well.
The video below by Gawx is both a fourteen-minute long ad for laptops and a beautiful video about art and creation. It is both infuriating and mesmerizing. It is both an example of what I should be focusing my own career towards and everything I hate about what I do. It’s complicated, impressive, and seemingly has broken my brain.
What I keep thinking about is my own career path.
When I began in this business, all the of content was made by a few old men with large support structures (filled with both full-time staff and freelance help) doing most of the work. These men owned buildings and got wildly rich. The barriers to entry were as tall as skyscrapers. I witnessed and participated in the very tail end of this era, working as an editor/assistant/webmaster/casting aide/etc before putting in my resignation and going out on my own with a new digital camera in hand. It was clear this model was dying and I would myself become a part of what killed it.
The new era which shaped me was filled with a larger number of younger men and women doing more of the work ourselves and keeping far less overhead. Nobody owned buildings, budgets were more modest but still robust, and freelancers were used anytime more help was needed on larger productions. Realistically, this era ended with Covid and we are now firmly in a new era, which people like myself are still a bit behind in understanding.
The current era is filled with millions of people, of all ages, all over the world motivated to make good work and fueled by a boom in affordable tools to do so. Cameras and lighting were once a barrier to entry but are now more of a bump in the road. Anything you want to make can be done with time and some youtube tutorials. It’s both amazing and terrifying, as the structures that were once in place to regulate prices and standards have crumbled like a sand castle at high tide. Making a living in this era will largely be tied to how large and dedicated your personal audience is and far less by how good you are at lighting or camera operating (this stuff helps but without an audience, you’re just one of thousands of people capable of doing it). To get an audience, you need a voice. A unique angle. Consistency. You need to be interesting and authentic. Say wild things, be provocative. Grab them by the pussy and be put in charge of the nation.
I’m still digesting all of this myself and figuring out where I stand in this landscape. At the end of the day, I know making things is what brings me joy and makes me happy, gives me purpose. I could do it for thousands of dollars or I could do it for free and be just as happy (shoutout to my agent). This is my edge but it’s no longer all you need to make it all work. You need a voice. You need to communicate clearly and gain an audience. You need a … blog?
-Clayton
2025 02 06
I’ll admit it, my strategy for keeping sane during the early days of Trump’s second term has been rapidly deteriorating the last few days. Talk of tariffs on our allies and a takeover of Gaza had me doomscrolling and contemplating the need to find a new home more than I’d like to admit. Avoiding the coverage morphed into obsessing over it and my mood began to match.
Fortunately, amidst the doom scrolling, I was reminded by Senator Chris Murphy that this is precisly Trump’s plan: to distract and overwhelm while they sneak through the actual agenda. Then, today, this great video below popped into my feed. Ezra managed to calm my nerves and restore some sanity.
While this storm is far from over, it’s a valuable lesson that we should keep calm and carry on, as our friends across the pond (who surely will soon be threatened with tariffs or much worse) so like to say.
-Clayton
Caution: Falling Ice, Tariffs, Invasion, Nuclear War… Chicago, Illinois. January, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
I’ll admit it, my strategy for keeping sane during the early days of Trump’s second term has been rapidly deteriorating the last few days. Talk of tariffs on our allies and a takeover of Gaza had me doomscrolling and contemplating the need to find a new home more than I’d like to admit. Avoiding the coverage morphed into obsessing over it and my mood began to match.
Fortunately, amidst the doom scrolling, I was reminded by Senator Chris Murphy that this is precisly Trump’s plan: to distract and overwhelm while they sneak through the actual agenda. Then, today, this great video below popped into my feed. Ezra managed to calm my nerves and restore some sanity.
While this storm is far from over, it’s a valuable lesson that we should keep calm and carry on, as our friends across the pond (who surely will soon be threatened with tariffs or much worse) so like to say.
-Clayton
2025 02 03
It’s days like today I’m glad to not be working in retail… or global trade and finance, homebuilding, agriculture, automotive and aviation, crypto, anything dealing directly with Canada or Mexico, steel, arts nonprofits, USAid, Temu customer support… fortunately I am merely a humble photographic button pusher. Let me push my buttons for you?
-Clayton
PS: I should probably get back into shooting weddings.
Dresses for sale! Chicago, Illinois. January, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
It’s days like today I’m glad to not be working in retail… or global trade and finance, homebuilding, agriculture, automotive and aviation, crypto, anything dealing directly with Canada or Mexico, steel, arts nonprofits, the Democratic Party, USAid, Temu customer support… fortunately I am merely a humble photographic button pusher. Let me push my buttons for you?
-Clayton
PS: I should probably get back into shooting weddings.
2025 02 01
Have you had your (twenty-fourth) dopamine fix yet today?
Scott went hard on this one. Always worth reading but this one should be mandatory for everyone.
Today’s reading: Addiction Economy by future president Scott Galloway
-Clayton
Discarded dopamine value meal. Chicago, Illinois. December, 2024. © Clayton Hauck
Have you had your (twenty-fourth) dopamine fix yet today?
Scott went hard on this one. Always worth reading but this one should be mandatory for everyone.
Today’s reading: Addiction Economy by future president Scott Galloway
-Clayton
2025 01 30
I EXIST!
I used to joke that street tags could all be translated to “I exist!”
These days, we’re all steeet tagging digitally through the social apps we used, being forced to constantly remind the world we exist in a desperate plea to please the almighty algorithm and gain a sliver on traction in the attention economy we live in. It’s exhausting.
I walk this stretch often and watched the artist spend days painting this mural. Then the tags go up in an instance, crowding out any detail and nuance. Tagging is very much an art form fit for our time. Do we really exist if nobody sees your post on socials or name sprayed on a side street wall?
-Clayton
Wall filled with -a-r-t- tags. Chicago, Illinois. November, 2024. © Clayton Hauck
I EXIST!
I used to joke that street tags could all be translated to “I exist!”
These days, we’re all street tagging digitally through the social apps we use, being forced to constantly remind the world we exist in a desperate plea to please the almighty algorithm and gain a sliver on traction in the attention economy we live in. It’s exhausting.
I walk this stretch often and watched the artist spend days painting this mural. Then the tags go up in an instance, crowding out any detail and nuance. Tagging is very much an art form fit for our time. Do we really exist if nobody sees our post on social or name sprayed on a side street wall? Maybe not, after all.
Like, comment, subscribe, and come back tomorrow for more gem takes like this.
-Clayton
2025 01 22
Train over Red Hot Ranch. Chicago, Illinois. December, 2024. © Clayton Hauck
I haven’t had a glizzy in too long. I dislike that term, but I learned it by eating a dog at the Ranch. I haven’t had a dog in far too long. Maybe tonight is the night.
-Clayton
2025 01 19
Today, Sunday, is a day of relaxation. Tomorrow, Monday, begins the Trump Two Point Oh Era. Over the weekend, he launched a shitcoin which made him one of the world’s richest people in a matter of hours, while clearly plotting with TikTok to give him a quick PR win with the kids.
All of this is going on while millions of people like myself make a calculated effort to pay as little attention as possible to all of this because we know it’s inevitable, unstoppable, and will only drive us slowly insane if we do. Everything is wrong; everything is right. God is dead and the aliens are here. Stay sane out there. Here’s Tom with the weather.
-Clayton
Chicago, Illinois. January, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
Today, Sunday, is a day of relaxation. Tomorrow, Monday, begins the Trump Two Point Oh Era. Over the weekend, he launched a shitcoin which made him one of the world’s richest people in a matter of hours, while clearly plotting with TikTok to give him a quick PR win with the kids.
All of this is going on while millions of people like myself make a calculated effort to pay as little attention as possible to all of this because we know it’s inevitable, unstoppable, and will only drive us slowly insane if we do. Everything is wrong; everything is right. God is dead and the aliens are here. Stay sane out there. Here’s Tom with the weather.
-Clayton
2025 01 18
This morning, I decided on a whim to start posting images I made for my new creative resolution to the socials (and this here blog) as I make them, in an effort to motivate me to make stronger images. It’ll be a process, no doubt, but we’ll see where it takes us!
This image was from a short session on a dreary afternoon day in which I spent most of the time figuring out how the focus works on my new Ricoh GRiii (not to be confused with my old Ricoh GRiiix with the dirty sensor).
-Clayton
Man on ladder. Chicago, Illinois. January, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
This morning, I decided on a whim to start posting images I made for my new creative resolution to the socials (and this here blog) as I make them, in an effort to motivate me to make stronger images. It’ll be a process, no doubt, but we’ll see where it takes us!
This image was from a short session on a dreary afternoon day in which I spent most of the time figuring out how the focus works on my new Ricoh GRiii (not to be confused with my old Ricoh GRiiix with the dirty sensor).
-Clayton
2025 01 17
I’ve been quite distracted the last few weeks by contemplating and pursuing an endeavor that now seems clear won’t happen. Meetings, discussions, reading, digesting youtube videos, all leading to a mostly self-imposed dead end. When you look at it like that, it’s daunting. The right way to view it, I think, is to view the journey as beneficial progress that ultimately leads to something else down the road. It’s not the end of the line. Or, perhaps it is the end of this line, but the city is full of streets filled with opportunities and adventure. Already, this dead end has placed me at the start of a new road. Maybe this one has an outlet, maybe it doesn’t. Time will tell.
The challenge I have is figuring out how much time to spend traveling. You gotta know when to pick a destination and live in it for a while.
Do not enter. Greensburg, Pennsylvania. August, 2024. © Clayton Hauck
I’ve been quite distracted the last few weeks by contemplating and pursuing an endeavor that now seems clear won’t happen. Meetings, discussions, reading, digesting youtube videos, all leading to a mostly self-imposed dead end. When you look at it like that, it’s daunting. The right way to view it, I think, is to view the journey as beneficial progress that ultimately leads to something else down the road. It’s not the end of the line. Or, perhaps it is the end of this line, but the city is full of streets filled with opportunities and adventure. Already, this dead end has placed me at the start of a new road. Maybe this one has an outlet, maybe it doesn’t. Time will tell.
The challenge I have is figuring out how much time to spend traveling. You gotta know when to pick a destination and live in it for a while.
-Clayton
2025 01 07
This morning, I woke up to the news that Getty Images was merging with Shutterstock. I then logged onto Threads and saw outrage from a photographer about how the companies now have a monopoly and that we photographers should not allow this to happen!
Fast forward to the end of the day. Out of curiosity, I checked the stock prices to see what the market thinks of this soon-to-be photography monopoly. Well, at first they loved it! Prices of both companies soared. Then, the market took a moment to think about why these two companies that dominate the photography world decided to merge into one mega company, and the frantic buying turned into frantic selling.
Getty was up an impressive 89% (!) in early trading today before ending the day up a more modest 17%.
Shutterstock was up 48% in early trading today before ending the day up a more modest 14%.
My immediate takeaway this morning was not that this newly-created mega company was going to kill the photography industry but that it was a necessary hail mary by two companies that see the writing on the wall. If they don’t do something, they will die. If they do do something, they will still probably die. Ai is inevitable and it’s depressing, to say the least, as someone who makes a living from making photos.
All this said, I don’t think photography is done. Hell, there will still even be quite a few people making a dang good living from photography for years to come. But the industry as a whole is in for a rough time and companies with market caps in the billions will no soon longer exist if their entire business depends on selling photography.
Good night, and good luck.
Now… back to the webinar I’m currently taking (along with three dozen other people!) on how to print photo zines. Yes, there is likely more demand than ever for making photos, which is cool! It’s the getting paid for making photos that will continue to get more challenging.
-Clayton
A town without people. Old Shawneetown, Illinois. April, 2024. © Clayton Hauck
This morning, I woke up to the news that Getty Images was merging with Shutterstock. I then logged onto Threads and saw outrage from a photographer about how the companies now have a monopoly and that we photographers should not allow this to happen!
Fast forward to the end of the day. Out of curiosity, I checked the stock prices to see what the market thinks of this soon-to-be photography monopoly. Well, at first they loved it! Prices of both companies soared. Then, the market took a moment to think about why these two companies that dominate the photography world decided to merge into one mega company, and the frantic buying turned into frantic selling.
Getty was up an impressive 89% (!) in early trading today before ending the day up a more modest 17%.
Shutterstock was up 48% in early trading today before ending the day up a more modest 14%.
My immediate takeaway this morning was not that this newly-created mega company was going to kill the photography industry but that it was a necessary hail mary by two companies that see the writing on the wall. If they don’t do something, they will die. If they do do something, they will still probably die. Ai is inevitable and it’s depressing, to say the least, as someone who makes a living from making photos.
All this said, I don’t think photography is done. Hell, there will still even be quite a few people making a dang good living from photography for years to come. But the industry as a whole is in for a rough time and companies with market caps in the billions will no soon longer exist if their entire business depends on selling photography.
Good night, and good luck.
Now… back to the webinar I’m currently taking (along with three dozen other people!) on how to print photo zines. Yes, there is likely more demand than ever for making photos, which is cool! It’s the getting paid for making photos that will continue to get more challenging.
-Clayton