I feel like everything about this photo captures that unique period of time - the covid masks, the protest signs, the boarded windows, the national guard.
I look at it now and I still feel glimmers of the hope I felt in that moment, when the rigid and all encompassing oppressive and systemic ruts of society felt like they were becoming more plastic and might even come undone. However, in retrospect, I am of course also hit with the ultimate disappointment, betrayal, and futility of it all.
So in that sense, it really captures that hovering sense of disillusionment and hope that I'm perpetually caught between within my day to day life.
Mar 30, 2024
Related Recs
The car simps in political leadership and the enemies of a vibrant, sociable spaces have decided to do away with outdoor dining structures in favor of street parking. There are plenty of reasons to love these ad hoc hovels, designed and built to support once-struggling restaurants and cafes, ranging from the ramshackle to the wonderfully inventive. These photos are an endearing testament to our fellow humans' creative resilience. I'm sad for NYC and disappointed in our leaders for regressing to the status quo instead of embracing communal spaces.
Apr 4, 2024
🌐
a strange little wordpress site chronicling all of the businesses that have closed in my hometown, but it could really be about anyone's hometown. call me crazy but scrolling the posts is always a weirdly emotional experience... it's the failed promise of the american dream laid bare, a time capsule of suburban decay. it makes me wonder what it means for one guy to spend 15 years religiously documenting these closures.
some of the photos are just unbelievable. the "need money now?" shadow cast on the wall of an empty payday loan store. the desiccated plant still in it's pot at the dry cleaners (a sign that reads "fresh as a flower" barely visible in the background).
very heady stuff.
Dec 8, 2023
They're like the Goldilocks zone between a total lack of stimulus and the overload of modernity; and quite moving seeing the slight signs of decay in these monuments of antisepticness
Mar 2, 2025
Top Recs from @ruffianbandwidth
🔎
I don't know how well this actually answers your initial question, I think it's more of a counterpoint to some of the stuff people have already said, but here it goes.
In the past (prior to social media or search engines) specific styles, specialized knowledge, and niche awareness actually took effort. You had to go out into the world and find a scene, be accepted, participate in it, contribute to it, and learn from others with specific knowledge within the specific sub- or counter-cultural scene. It took time, effort, and experience to craft an identity. Nowadays people cycle through various identities and trends like commodities because it takes no effort (they're sold to them by social media algorithms, influencers, brand accounts, etc.). It comes to you in your phone without you ever even having to leave the house or put in the time to discover it or participate in it (you just follow specific people or subscribe). You can be a passive observer or consumer, not an active contributor. As a result, you're not invested or tied down and committed to that core identity. You can cosplay depending on your mood or who you want to momentarily convey yourself as, because it's easy. Essentially, being a poser has become normalized. An identity is now something to be momentarily consumed and affected, rather than grown, built, and developed over time.
Granted, it's always been different in regards to "mass" culture and popular trends (both in the past and now). Those are impossible to miss and were always monopolized by specific trend setting institutions, but always by the time it gets to that point, the actual initial counter- or sub-culture that inspired it has already been coopted and has started to disintegrate under the weight and attention of mass consumption.
Feb 18, 2024
It's an action deserving of its own nickname. My cat's name is Gomez, but when he crosses his paws like this, he turns into Hodgkins Plumpersocks.
Feb 2, 2024
Please enjoy my attempt(s) to fill the void.
title: "pet; owner"
medium: hair
Jan 30, 2024