Me, Myself, and this blog

Why don’t you just go digital?

Xeni & Tara

Shibuya

This morning while lamenting a lost roll of film (I’d loaded it wrong and spent several days shooting, well, nothing) Tara said something like “I don’t know why you keep messing with that, why don’t you just go digital? I’m sure you can get the look you want with filters or something” I don’t remember my exact reply but it was something along the lines of “there’s a little more to it than that.”

Which got me thinking, of course.

And now I’m writing about it, of course.

Mike Borras, Vienna

I’ve resisted calling myself a photographer for my whole life for a million reasons, I just like taking pictures. I like documenting things and I like trying to express a feeling in something visual. Writing isn’t that much different honestly, often when I’m writing I’m trying to convey a feeling and choosing the words and structure I think will do that best. With photography, it’s about picking the right moments to capture a feeling. I didn’t realize it had been this long, but 2 years ago I wrote some thoughts about photography in general and touched on the film vs digital issue then. A lot of that still holds true. But today, in 2012, why do I shoot on film?

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2011: The year in review, in photos

Back in 2007 I had a crazy idea to skim my flickr stream and pick a few photos from each month to try and illustrate how I spent the year. I found it to be pretty cathartic and gave me a whole different impression of the year I’d just experienced. I liked it. So I did it again in 2008. And then in 2009 it was kind of “a thing” so I did it again. And then again in 2010. I really like doing this. It’s a pain in the ass, but it’s awesome to reference.

I’ve been slow getting to it this year for no good reason, I can’t believe it’s April already. Gah. I’m sorry. So here it is. The first photo I posted in 2011 was this one of Ripley and Lucky cat just waking up. I guess that’s a good way to get this moving

Waking up, sort of

Which I think must have been followed by a hike up to Runyon Canyon with the family based on my pics. I had a beard.

Bite your tongue!

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On leaving Facebook

For better or worse, I consider myself a fairly principled person. That is, I’ve chosen to live my life in a way that reflects my convictions. From what I eat to how I vote to what I spend money on, I consider how those choices impact me, those around me, and the world as a whole. I consider what my actions and choices say about me as a person, and take great care to ensure I like who that person is. Ethics are important. Convictions mean something.

If you know me in person you know this to be true. It’s not about changing the world, or even changing anyone else’s mind, it’s about being comfortable with my own choices. It doesn’t make life particularly easy, but I sleep really well at night.

When it comes to the internet, I’ve always tried to have my online presence reflect my offline presence. I frequently speak out in favor of things I support, and against those I don’t. But I hadn’t considered that where that online presence was also said something about me.

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It’s not you, it’s me

When I write, which I do on occasion, I write from my own perspective. I write about my observations, my opinions and my feelings. I do that because to a large extent writing is therapy for me. I write to try and sort through and idea that I’m chewing on in my head or to get over some hurdle. That’s why I’m happier when I’m writing more, because my brian is in motion. I also write that way because that’s what I like to read. I like to read someone elses insight into something. I like to learn what other people feel about things, and how it (whatever it is) strikes them. My favorite books and blogs (even fictional one) are written from someone perspective. I often link to posts by other people written in this same tone.

One thing I’ve noticed recently, is that people who read these personal musings take them as some kind of manifesto to argue with. They vehemently disagree. They see things differently and they are right and everyone else is wrong. It’s almost like they think the commentary being made is about them directly. Or they are subject to it somehow. I wonder if people are just so used to being told what to do that they assume anytime someone is talking they must be talking about them. Or if they feel so insecure with their own standing that if someone is talking about a different perspective then bashing it seems the only viable option?

2012 Purge Planning

As 2012 is fast approaching so is the year of getting rid of stuff that I’ve been talking about. I’m actually really excited about it and have been thinking pretty regularly about it and talking to friends to try and refine the idea even more. I want to start right now, but I’m being good and just aiming for Jan 1 to press go.

One thing that keeps coming up that I realized last time I went through a major purge is that any single item can be justified. Take a box you have in storage, one that has been there for years untouched. One that you’ve been paying $100+ a month to store. Do you need anything in that box? Without opening it I can tell you that, no, most likely you don’t need anything in that box. You could through it out and chances are for the rest of your life you’ll never miss anything in that box. But! Open it up, and suddenly the stuff in there is oh so important. Stuff that 5 minutes ago you didn’t even remember existed is now precious and worthy of saving.

That’s the stuff lying to you.

I’ll say it again – on a single item basis, you can justify keeping anything.

Yes that camera still works and it would be fun to take it out one day and shoot a roll of film through it. Remember when you used to wear that watch all the time? Who are the people in these photos, summer school class of 1980-something? Do these batteries still work? You still have that t-shirt too?

Lies.

The truth is getting rid of stuff is hard, but it’s hard for a reason. Stuff is designed to make you want it. If you haven’t needed it in the last 12 months, you likely won’t need it again, ever. And if you do need it again at some random future date, borrowing it from a friend or buying it new is most often a better option anyway. You get what I’m getting at.

I have a lot of t-shirts. A lot. Many I’ve never worn. Some I designed. Some friends designed and gave to me. Most of them have been in a box I’ve had in storage for over 10 years. Some of them have been in my dresser. If I went through each and everyone one of them I could think of a reason I needed to keep them all. But if I’ve never worn a t-shirt I’ve had for over 10 years, the changes I’ll ever wear it are slim to none and the justification for keeping it “for the archives” is pretty weak. Today I bought 7 new blank t-shirts and come 2012 I’ll be taking all the rest of those shirts to the thrift store down the street, with the exception of a few I might put on ebay. It’ll hurt to say bye to them, but I know I’ll feel so much better when they are gone. I’ll write more about it when I start this whole thing officially, but yeah, I’m looking forward to this a lot.