Something Old, Something New

Hello,

Happy Friday.

When we last connected, I wrote about what I was up to, and why I felt it was the right time to step away for a while.

Without regurgitating that other piece, I’ll say that I had other things that deserved my attention. They were good things. Wedding things. Things which I was happy to step away to support. We’ve set a date, and the administrative whirlwind that is “vendor management” is lightening up. More on that in a future piece, probably.

I will not call my time away "soul-searching". Even though I wasn’t creating anything here, I made it my mission to continue making pictures. I consider this work. I have to. I did my work for this project. For you.

I brought my camera everywhere. Even if the only picture I came back with was a blurry shot of my own stupid feet, I was going to use my tools for their intended purpose.

The trouble came after I got home after a day with the camera: What do I do with these? 

The little write-ups about my pictures and the context in which they are created make me happy, and I’d be happy to continue that, but if we're both honest, you've seen that before. It’s a re-iteration of social media. I just tampered with the formatting. I took my goods off of the most diverse digital buffet imaginable and said, "care to visit a restaurant that only makes this one thing?” That’s hardly a value proposition.

I workshopped some other ideas, but nothing emerged with any real traction. More pictures. Less pictures. Make a picture of yourself each day for ten years. That’s never been done right? As powerful as the digital ecosystem is for allowing folks like me to cultivate an audience and share this passion of mine, it still starts and ends in one place only, the screen.

The screen and I have a complicated relationship. I imagine many people have that these days. Looking up from my phone and realizing that I just lost an hour of my day on something worthless (cutely referred to as a “rabbit hole”) certainly stings, but the idea of aligning myself with the “phone bad book good” crowd is somehow more nauseating. I should know - I was one of them for a while.

This isn’t to say that exploration, which is what this project is about, can’t happen on a screen. It absolutely can. A screen is a tool, a creative asset used to say something. If you’ve ever been to a movie theater, you understand what a screen can become.

However, I needed a reminder, a re-interpretation, of what “exploration” should mean in terms of this project. The art I want to be held responsible for creating should come to you in a way that encourages you to explore both on a screen and off of one.

So, what happens now?

Starting on this month, I’m taking things off screen. 

• AMoYT will be changing its name to Sodfotog, which is the original nom de plume I’ve always used for photography. 

• For $5/mo, I will be printing and sending you postcards. A real thing! From me! To you! They will be sent once a month, and in envelopes so they don’t get postmarked. This keeps them in better shape, whether you’d like to save it or send it to someone else.

• If you are reading this as an active subscriber to this newsletter, you will need to resubscribe to the Patreon page. Space is limited.

• The on-screen content will continue through Patreon. You’ll find posts featuring my work, guest features, and film reviews.

• If you’d like to hold off on subscribing, but still stay connected, there is a free subscription option. You’ll receive updates to your inbox like before, but that’s it. No postcards. Again, space is limited. I can’t guarantee more room for paid subscribers in the future yet.

Since I first took photography seriously, I always had issues with what to do with the end result. I was stuck between two philosophies. At one end, the end result is not important. Only the act of creating is what’s important. On the other, the medium is married to the message. The plated dish is what the customer eats. It is not the thought that counts.

Both of these philosophies are true, but they are still just philosophies. Two ideals swimming in a vacuum. Everything exists on a continuum, and our experiences are just moments where hues in the gray area get a little bit darker or a little bit brighter.

This project is no different.

I don’t want to harvest your data, or have millions of followers, or millions of followers’ money. I began this endeavor because I wanted something with connective tissue, and I was done waiting for it to emerge from nowhere. To me, photography is really, really cool. This little thing is me doing what I can to navigate this art form (and myself) into a more interesting future.

See you on Patreon

Best,

Sodfotog