i graduated from art school with a photography and creative writing degree about 3 years ago and have been in a masters program for creative writing and english since then. i felt like i never wanted to do another photo project again after graduating and had zero ideas for one even if i wanted to. so instead i just carried my 35mm camera around with me whenever i went on trips or hung out with my friends or went on hikes, whatever. i only took photos of things that i thought were nice. old buildings, my friends in good lighting, colorful displays, pretty flowers, whatever other pinterest cliche film photos you could think of. taking photos without the stress of needing to make something important made me able to keep my love of photography so i'm now at the point where i'm ready to embark on a real fine arts conceptual project. it really does just take patience and finding ways to retain the joy it once brought you. creating with friends also always makes it more fun, so find ways to include others in what you do!
the photo below is just one i took of my friend anthony when we were wandering the city and day drinking on labor day and it inspired what will be my next project, and the first real one i'll attempt since graduation <3
Jan 9, 2025
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feel like phone photos feel so much less permanent than film or digicam, it almost orients photography to be a functional medium instead of an artistic one... my camera roll is mostly just photos of stuff i want to remember to buy, or text message attachments. if that's how your brain is conditioned to think about photography, muscle memory for photographing stuff that feels more... photo-worthy will atrophy
i used to carry both a polaroid + 35mm camera with me every time i left the house but found myself struggling to actually use them for this reason; occasionally inspiration strikes when you see cool shit in your city or a beautiful sunset or whatever, but serendipity is notoriously unreliable
i think that having a list of things you can condition yourself to photograph / be on the lookout for as you're out and about, like friends, landscapes, skylines, interiors, etc. has been a lot more helpful for me. go out with the express intention to photograph <thing> a couple of times. then, start bringing a small portable camera with you when you leave, and the cue-craving-action-reward cycle will eventually take over and you'll have more photos that feel special and worth showing to others
Feb 1, 2025
I recently got into photography again after a year of not touching my camera, I'm very happy to create and do something that I love since I was 14.
I will share a pic that I took last week in a small city rounded by nature 🥺
Jan 14, 2025
i used to always be the one taking photos when my friends and i hung out and i've slowed down a lot lately, while my phone's storage is definitely thanking me i really miss it! i miss having a hundred photos of my friends smiling when i look in my camera roll. i've never had the best memory so it's capturing a moment i would never be able to properly picture (pun unintended) on my own. i think i got worn down by the number of friends i had who'd make fun of it and tell me to just live in the moment but also pester me for photos later, and the fact that since i was the only one ever taking them, i never had any photos of me, but when i hang out with some of my best friends with the same philosophy it's so lovely because we all end up with a million photos of each other being happy :))
Feb 17, 2025
Top Recs from @sbonifazi
this idea of "you don't owe anyone anything" came about through the social media therapists that try to diagnose complete strangers with a multitude of issues and complexes. all it has done has made selfish people more selfish and divided us as a community.
you do not owe everyone everything, but if you consider yourself part of a community, a society, you do owe everyone something. at a base level you owe people kindness, respect (as long as they haven't lost the right to it), and basic human decency. you owe your loved ones even more.
stop being selfish and rude in the name of treating your so-called "people pleasing."
Feb 4, 2025
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if one more person tells me to turn one of my hobbies into a business i'm gonna go berserk. is nothing sacred in this late stage capitalist hellscape?
Feb 3, 2025
oscar wilde said, "If you want to be a grocer, or a general, or a politician, or a judge, you will invariably become it; that is your punishment. If you never know what you want to be, if you live what some might call the dynamic life but what I will call the artistic life, if each day you are unsure of who you are and what you know you will never become anything, and that is your reward."
i remind myself of this quote every time i get jealous of my friends who have it all figured out.
Feb 1, 2025