Darkroom Class and Finding Your Inspiration
Prints, contact sheets, and test strips from my first darkroom class.
Newsletter #004
This blog was adapted from my monthly newsletter, which you can subscribe to here.
You guys, it’s my birthday! You know those people who keep their birthday a secret from everyone and you find out 3 days later that you were eating lunch with them on that very day and they said nothing? That ain’t me.
So in honor of my 36th trip, here’s 10 things worth sharing. It’s a list of things that float around in my brain a lot. Some recent, some have been floating for years. Sort of like a self-portrait newsletter:
This spring, I took a darkroom class. Every Wednesday night for 8 weeks, I drove to Lawrence to hang with a bunch of other camera nerds: college students, adults, beginners, experts, and an old guy named Eddie who religiously takes photos of Rhode Island St. – the street where he lives. It was fun because I’ve always wanted to learn to develop film and print my own photos, but mostly because it feels good to be with your people. (A few of my prints are in the photo above)
“What am I?” I was fascinated by this podcast where Simon Sinek hosted his “bestie” Maria Shriver (What a duo, right?). She explains how the labels we use to describe ourselves don’t say anything about ourselves at all. They describe what we do or who we are to other people: father, sister, graphic designer, neighbor, etc. But who am I, really? I think I am a doer. A maker. I try to be a joy-sharer. I try to be generous, optimistic, and kind. Who are you?
My favorite way to frame creativity is by looking at who inspires each of us. “Steal from one person it’s plagiarism. Steal from 100, it’s research.” A few of my inspirations: Austin Kleon’s love of analog, Jessica Hische’s hustle and outlook, the Hood sisters’ quality of work, Aaron Draplin’s drive and authenticity, the attention to detail in Wes Anderson films, this Maggie Smith poem, Trevor Noah’s curiosity, these national parks books, Tad Carpenter’s 10 year series, Andy Pizza’s embrace of weird, and Joanna Gaines’ earnestness while still being really cool. Some of these I love so much that I started researching who their heroes are.
My sister got us tickets to Sierra Ferrell the other night and she did not dissapoint. If you haven’t heard of her, give it a shot. I think I’d call it bluegrass-roots-country. She’s an Appalachian girl with a distinct, whimsical voice and elite guitar skills. Listen to Dollar Bill Bar, American Dreaming, and West Virginia Waltz. “She’s kinda witchy,” Kate said, “I like it.” (Rumor has it: Sierra is Tyler Childers’ Charleston Girl, which would be an incredible story)
“Before reading anything, ask: ‘Will this matter in a month? A year?’” I am trying to read less of the news. Not because I don’t want to be informed – but because I don’t think the 24/7 news cycle is good for our mental health and many of the headlines turn out to be untrue down the road anyways. SO… I now get the Sunday newspaper. The real Kansas City Star in my driveway every week. The newspaper is a curated, more local account of the news with more accountability. You can also cut out articles about KC history or new Eric Church albums and give them to your family members.
In other Sunday news, I am trying to write a letter every Sunday. I wrote one to my mom a few weeks ago and got three letters in return! One for myself and each of my girls. Then I sent some postcards from Seattle which made it to their destinations 4 days after I got home. But I love those old books that are entirely a collection of letters from people like Ansel Adams or Georgia O’Keefe – and I worry that my generation won’t have that. How will we know the true love story of Taylor and Travis if we don’t have their letters?! Should we start a pen pal club to bring back snail mail? Am I the only one who cares? (P.S. - Check out this Guide to Modern Correspondence)
ear•nest. adj - showing sincere or intense conviction. [similar: cringe]
I used to think it was uncool to be earnest. It probably is. I didn’t like publicly showing that I cared a lot or that I was actually very sentimental. If I did share something like that, I would make it a joke. But I’m learning to just be serious about my things and not try to play it so cool. I want to be good at my job! I want people to read my dumbass newsletters! I want to be a good person! Being a little “cringe” is just part of that. Let’s all embrace being cringe.On the day we opened the bookstore, Seth Godin posted a daily blog about “building a cathedral.” I think about it a lot. When starting something new, there is usually a cheaper, more efficient way to solve the problem. But sometimes we need to build the damn cathedral. “Perhaps it’s a message to your membership about longevity, status and commitment… You can’t build a cathedral every day, and you can’t do it for cheap. But sometimes we get the chance to create something that really matters.”
This isn’t me saying you have to get me something for my birthday, but watch Van Neistat’s rules for gift giving. It’s so good and so true. Good gifts are: 1) nice 2) thoughtful 3) made – you can choose 2 of 3. “Your goal in giving a gift is to make the receiver cry.”
A sad but happy story: I lost my dad 5 years ago to colon cancer. His birthday was also this month, May 4. It’s difficult to lose a parent, but having a great sister made it easier to deal with. This is actually why we decided to have a 2nd child – before that, we were happy with our family of 3 and didn’t want to mess up the equation. Two years later, Retta was born on May 4, Dad’s birthday, which is really special for the whole family. We named her Loretta Ray because Ray was my dad’s middle name. I forget how neat it is until that day rolls around every year.
Thanks for reading. Good luck to all you parents kicking off summer break.
If you really need to get me something for my birthday: put a baseball game on the radio and enjoy a whiskey coke with the windows open.
Cheers to 36,