2024 05 08

Fish, just hanging around at Warlord. Chicago, Illinois. September, 2023. © Clayton Hauck

Are you still taking pictures?

It’s something we photographers get asked, usually from relatives who don’t realize it’s a bit insulting, or perhaps can’t imagine somebody sticking with a hobby for their entire life. I’ve been doing photography as a job for about two decades. There have been long stretches of time where I wasn’t also making photos in my down time. It was my job and I still mostly loved it but I’d had my fill of it during the hours I was getting paid to make images.

I’ve long found I go through phases of interest in things. I get obsessed with roller coasters and travel the country riding them; then I get obsessed with coffee and want to open a coffee shop; then I get obsessed with cocktails and want to open a bar; then I get obsessed with geopolitics and want to become an intellectual. Typically these obsessions turn into phases and fade away in time. It’s only logical that photography, though it’s my job, will also ebb and flow in how excited I am to participate in it. Fortunately of late, I’ve found myself in an uptrend and have been motivated to make pictures, and perhaps soon video, at all hours of the day, whether it’s for myself or for a client.

There’s no shame in taking time off, doing something else, starting a new hobby. I can only image how challenging it must be for someone like Peter McKinnon, who built a massive name for himself through photography, to have to navigate what to do once the passion has worn thin and his livelihood is attached to posting thoughtful videos, and his staff is reliant on the income from posting thoughtful videos, but his thoughts are now elsewhere on things his audience may not give a shit about.

I have more complex thoughts on Peter the photographer but have no doubts he’ll find continued success because of his strength as a communicator and storyteller. He became as big as he did not because he’s an amazing photographer (not saying he isn’t!) but because he’s so great at connecting with people through his videos, like this one.

Peter, are you still taking pictures?

-Clayton

2024 05 07

Dinah in front of the camera for my Keep it 100 portrait session. Chicago, Illinois. December, 2023. © Clayton Hauck

Following my own advice from yesterday’s entry, I checked out another from Paulie B’s amazing Walkie Talkie series, this time featuring another photographer I was not previously familiar with by the name of Sara Messinger. I think the kids are alright! Beyond being introduced to another talented name, I loved the contrasting styles, approaches, and philosophies between Sara and Trevor, who was the previous subject of yesterday’s post. Throughout the entire forty-minute video, I’m not sure Sara made a single image, while Trevor finished like a dozen rolls and got into a few heated moments with strangers-who-became-subjects.

Partly why I loved this video with Sara is because she constantly reminded me of my own partner Allison, whereas I’m probably a bit more like Trevor. We all see the world a bit different and approach photography in our own ways. It’s also rather fascinating to contemplate how street photography has changed since I was their age wandering the streets with a camera. People these days are far more sensitive and aware about what might happen when a stranger makes a photo of them on the street without their consent.

That’s a deeper debate for another day, but let’s leave it there for now. Compete less; put yourself out there more; open yourself up to connect deeply with your subjects, as that’s how the magical moments are made. Thanks for your positive energy, Sara.

-Clayton

2024 05 06

Bart Simpson caught in the act at Slappy Curb. Chicago, Illinois. March, 2024. © Clayton Hauck

Caught this video over the weekend and had so many wonderful thoughts about it. Per the rules, we must discuss and share the link here. I’ll preface by saying this channel, by Paulie B, is fantastic and highly worth digging into for anyone even remotely interested in photography and definitely for anyone interested in street photography. The "walkie talkie” series has him tagging along with various street photographers and getting a peek into their process while an interview plays out alongside.

This specific episode featured a photographer I was not previously familiar with named Trevor Wisecup. His enthusiasm for the craft, perspective on life, and positive energy were all refreshing, inspiring, and had me wanting to pick up my camera and hit the streets. In general, the video reminded me of my younger self while also serving to push my current self a bit harder in the sense that, as you get older, sometimes you start to overthink things or self-doubt a bit more, or generally just lose the insane drive your younger self might’ve had.

As a lifelong Chicagoan, whenever I see videos like this I immediately regret not living in NYC. While making work of this nature is definitely possible here in Chicago (shoutout Vivian Maier) you’re going to need to put in twice as much time to get half the results as you will in a place like NYC which simply has the density of humanity needed to provide consistantly amazing street moments. Paulie B himself previously lived in Chicago and has since relocated to NYC. All this to say: I shouldn’t allow this one challenge to stop me from producing any work! Perhaps it could even allow me to think outside the box and make something more unique to me. I have ideas, they just need to be manifested, which can only happen once you leave the house. Thanks to Paulie for the endless inspiration to do just that (once I finish watching his channel, of course).

-Clayton

2024 05 05

Allison Ziemba basking in the sun. Chicago, Illinois. March, 2024. © Clayton Hauck

Happy sunday, y’all. I’ll be back next week with some new posts and hopefully dig a little deeper on some stuff if I can find more time that I had this previous week.

-Clayton

2024 05 04

A man walks down Elston Avenue. Chicago, Illinois. March, 2024. © Clayton Hauck

This blog post is being written from my studio office, which is inside the Kimball Arts Center. Before I signed the lease on this space, I spent a few years searching, scheming, and dreaming about buying a building which I’d then convert into my own space. This building, pictured here for sale off Elston Avenue, is kind of exactly what I was looking for. The problem was, anything I could find that fit what I needed was either a) well over a million dollars and out of my budget or b) so far away from anywhere I wanted to be that it didn’t make sense.

One building popped up and looked promising, however, I knew it would need some work (as they all do) so hired a brick guy to come out and look at the space with me. Upon arrival, he told me he’d crossed the street to avoid walking next to said building because the condition was so bad he figured the top might topple over at any moment. I got the point and didn’t make an offer on the $400,000 property, which seemed like a great deal at the time.

Before we got to this point, I’d gone to scout out the building and the surrounding area myself. While wandering the nearby alley, a man yelled to get my attention from a dark rear vestibule. Clearly a man down on his luck, sleeping on the floor with a wheel chair next to him, my suspicions were high but I nonetheless approached him cautiously. He asked me to help him get up into his chair. This is when I noticed he didn’t have any legs and the only way he was going to get back into his chair was with the help of someone passing by, such as myself in this moment.

What do you do at this point? Your only choices are to make some jumbled excuse and leave the man helpless on the ground or do your best to get him back up into his chair, so that is what I did. That’s the story of how I held a homeless man in my arms while trying to scout some cheap real estate to fulfill my professional photography career dreams.

Fellow photographer Noah Kalina recently joked on social media that the only ways to get rich in photography these days are to either win a copyright infringement lawsuit or buy real estate in SoHo in the 1980’s. So funny, sad, and true.

That building is still standing, however, the ornate stone crown atop the structure, which my inspector was worried would collapse, was nowhere to be seen the last time I drove past. Be careful where you’re walking.

-Clayton

2024 05 03

Slappy Curb in late afternoon sunlight. Chicago, Illinois. March, 2024. © Clayton Hauck

I’ve returned from my big job in Atlanta and am catching up on things. Maybe I’ll write more about photographing big production assignments sometime. It’s a fairly fascinating job. We took over an $800,000,000 airplane for the day, brought 40 people and a dozen trucks filled with endless stuff onto the busy airport tarmac, placed our “sun” lights onto a giant lift platform to get them high into the sky, and then ran through seven scenarios as if we were enjoying a flight 30,000 ft in the sky when in fact we were safely down on earth. While everything is being faked, I pride myself on making everything feel as real and authentic (creative director buzz word alert!) as we possibly can.

Speaking of creative directors on big production assignments: this is Zach skateboarding at Slappy Curb outside my See You Soon studio. We met last year on a big production assignment and one fun fact about Zach is he does not have any social media accounts. How amazing is that?!?

Image made from my first roll off teh Contax T2. I tried pre-focusing on the pavement, anticipating where he’d end up, which worked a bit but didn’t quite nail it. The fun thing about shooting film is these imperfections often only enhance the image, anyway.

-Clayton

2024 05 02

People are inside doing things as day turns to night. Chicago, Illinois. March, 2024. © Clayton Hauck

Me, walking into a hotel room for the first time: Oh, nice room, glad I upgraded! The view is decent but I wish the windows were bigger. Why is the sink not draining fast? Why does the sink’s faucet handle come like a millimeter from hitting the mirror? Do people not plan ahead before installing these things? Why do hotels give you giant bar soaps that you end up mostly wasting and without any sort of tray… where are you supposed to put this bar without it getting messy? Nice, one of those Martin Schoeller mirrors… I wonder what he’s up to now. There’s definitely a stain of something on the floor by the toilet. Free water… but it’s Dasani, of course. Oh great the phone is blinking so now I need to figure this out so it doesn’t blink for four days straight and keep me up at night… why are these new phones so impossible to figure out? Clearly whoever designed this thing didn’t expect anyone to use it. Gotta move this weird pillow out of the way. Why are the reading lights on? The air conditioning is kinda loud. Oh great, a text from the hotel, now, too.

Text from hotel: Welcome! Thanks for being a valued member. How is everything with the room?

Me: good, thanks.

-Clayton

2024 05 01

It’s springtime! New leaves unfurl on our European hornbeam trees. Chicago, Illinois. April, 2024. © Clayton Hauck

So I lied. Yesterday wasn’t actually our airplane shoot, it’s today. Why am I posting a picture of leaves? I’m so glad you asked! This image was made a few days ago in my backyard after borrowing my buddy Tim Blokel’s new Fuji GFX100 II to play with for a day. I’ve never used a Fuji camera in my entire life, but lately they have become the go-to camera model for commercial projects needing more resolution. Previously, we’d rent a Phase system and those are nice cameras but come with many drawbacks, so I’m always tentative to use them unless I know we don’t need speed (which, lately, never seems to be the case. More shots, less time, faster actions, people moving, etc, etc).

All that said, today’s shoot seemed like the perfect opportunity to use the new Fuji system, which I’m very excited about! The image above is cropped in a ridiculous amount as those leaves were something like 20 feet over my head, but the massive resolution of 102 megapixels allows great flexibility in post production. Anyway, I swear this blog won’t be turning into an equipment review site, I just wanted to mention the camera since it feels like it may become a new tool in my camera rotation going forward.

-Clayton

2024 04 30

Sunset on Milwaukee Ave. Chicago, Illinois. February, 2024. © Clayton Hauck

Today I’m in Atlanta making photographs in an airplane at the airport for a major commercial client. While I have no idea how the shoot is going since I am writing this a few days before it happens, I have no doubt it’s going smooth and the images we are making are incredible. The big challenge on this specific project will be to light the airplane as if it’s 30,000ft in the sky with sun streaming into the windows, when in reality we will be parked on the ground in a likely dark hangar with a bunch of mechanics driving around and grumpy about all of the people who don’t belong in their workspace.

Sorry, mechanics.

-Clayton

2024 04 29

A car rest wrapped in the drive awaiting nicer weather. Peru, Illinois. March, 2024. © Clayton Hauck

This website has become a filter of sorts. After making images, they get edited down to my selects, which then get color and tone adjusted and saved into another folder. Then, those selects get edited down again and moved into another folder meant to go towards various social media or websites, including this one. When I go to make a new blog entry, I browse the Pointing at Stuff website folder and see which images are still feeling good enough to post or are no longer feeling as excited and get scrapped.

This image, while a simple moment without much action, is one that I feel good about. It’s a bit of a new perspective for me, taking images of simple moments like this that I come across while out and about. This is not to say I haven’t previously made photos but that my eye is now hunting for “art photos” that may fit into a bigger body of work. Once you combine images and juxtapose different frames, new meanings and vibes get formed which can then be further explored and created upon.

Anyway, none of this may make sense and you may dislike this image, but I’m enjoying my new found perspective on photography and plan to continue pursuing it to see where it takes me.

-Clayton

2024 04 28

Spring flower pops up in an unexpected place. Chicago, Illinois. April, 2024. © Clayton Hauck

If you read yesterday’s post, this is the scene we came across while walking home from bar dinner.

If you read Thursday’s post, this is me embracing using new photographic tools. I’ve written about it here before, but I’ve been loving the Lapse app in my iPhone. While I’ve been trying to use my phone less for image making (thus, carrying around a Ricoh everywhere I go), I do love the snapshot aesthetic this app provides, along with the date and time, which is a fun throwback to point and shoot film cameras. The only downside is the files you get from it are not very big. I imagine the app creators don’t want to host full-sized images on their servers to save money, but if you could pay for a “pro” version which allowed maximum resolution, I would totally give them my money.

For the first time in my pro photography career, I’m finding myself wanting more, new, different cameras! I just need to make sure I don’t revert back into the gear-head person who cared more about what equipment he had than the images being made from that equipment.

-Clayton

2024 04 27

A wintry Chicago scene, devoid of color and life aside from one jacketed child. March, 2024. © Clayton Hauck

Getting drunk and then trying to write is tricky; I’m not sure how Bukowski did it (probably it was scripted). You think all of your thoughts are brilliant but then wake up the next day to realize the opposite. It’s kind of like dreaming; Some of my most amazing ideas have come while deep asleep — I wake up in a pool of brilliance and then doze back off drenched in the cool confidence that I have the Next Big Idea — only to wake up again, once the sunlight is drenching the room in hot reality, and realize the sleepy thoughts were actually complete bullshit.

While walking home from the bar, we came across a brilliant flower poking up from the earth. It reminded me about my new-found Spring Perspective I’ve been dwelling on this year… bare trees have become beautiful to me for the first time in my life! I’ve realized the magic a lack of leaves allows: by letting through light and colors and birds and whatnot, we’re able to view a more complex scene, which a fully leafed-out tree does not allow. It’s a simple idea, yes, but if you’re not paying attention to these sorts of things, they go completely ignored.

Anyway, back to bed I go.

-Clayton

2024 04 26

Car parked at night. Chicago, Illinois. March, 2024. © Clayton Hauck

Sometimes when The Office is on, you get sucked into an Office Hole and forget to finish all the work and blog posts and life stuff that you needed to do. But also sometimes it’s nice to just check out and let your brain decompress for a few hours.

-Clayton

2024 04 25

Bare tree on a sunny winter afternoon, dusty Ricoh sensor for character. Chicago, Illinois. March, 2024. © Clayton Hauck

When it comes to making photos, I’ve tended to be pretty vanilla throughout my professional career from an equipment perspective. Basically, whatever the most recent pro-level Canon SLR body is on the market is what I’ve used with little to no variation, aside from mixing up my editing style. Sure, I love their cameras (reach out about about sponsorship opportunities!) and they do pretty much exactly what I need them to do, however, this was a mistake. Thankfully, I’ve been fully embracing using different tools for different jobs lately. After purchasing my first Ricoh (reach out about about sponsorship opportunities!) and basically carrying it with me in my pocket everywhere I go, my horizons have been expanded and I’ve seen the light! Even now (after over a year of constant use and abuse) that the camera has an ever noticeable layer of dust lining the sensor, forcing me to shoot everything at f2.8, I’m finding myself not much annoyed about it. The dust, while yes maybe not ideal in most situations, also adds a bit of uniqueness to each image, like the imperfections of film or making a photograph through a window or reflective surface. Basically, finding ways to turn otherwise ordinary images into something that has a bit more character.

It’s been a trend for a few years now that photojournalists covering boring political assignments will use fun optical tricks to spice up otherwise bland photos of old, white, male politicians standing on a stage in front of a mic. Using an iphone to add a mirrored reflection; shooting through sparkley stuff to add visual interest; greasing up your lens with a bit of spray tan. Soon, I imagine, you’ll see presidential press conferences (if we ever have those again) covered by the New York Times using a busted Holga (reach out about about sponsorship opportunities!) with funky light leaks because, why not? It’s different.

-Clayton

2024 04 24

Giant cross of Effingham, Illinois. April, 2024. © Clayton Hauck

The term the writing is on the wall came to mind recently…

I’m a confirmed Catholic but haven’t been back to church since the day I was confirmed. While I’ve personally strayed from the church myself, I don’t necessarily have anything against organized religion. That said, religious organizations are made up of people so not immune to things like power struggles, greed, corruption, and extremism, which get publicized much easier in today’s modern world and push people like myself away.

When done well, religion can provide things which greatly benefit humans, namely: structure, meaning, faith, purpose, community. These are all great things, but again, in today’s modern world, there are plenty more options to provide these needs to people. Facebook, for example.

My partner and I recently met with a rabbi hoping he would be able to marry us later this year. It was my first time meeting the man but I was instantly won over by him and excited for the possibility of him being involved in our big day. That said, he won’t be marrying us because religious traditions and the positioning of the sun in relation to the earth would make us need to re-organize our entire wedding schedule to the point that it doesn’t make any sense (the sun sets at around 7:30pm on Saturday, our date, meaning the ceremony would need to get pushed back by about two hours later than we had planned). Again, not compatible with the modern world. It’s a shame, too, because as I get older I find myself more understanding of things like keeping the Sabbath, esp in this modern world full of unlimited distractions. Instead, we’ll need to find someone willing to accommodate our needs, opposed of shaping our wedding to fit within the structure of the church.

Before we left the temple, we stopped at the bathrooms where, on the other side of the hall was a long line of framed group photos taken on the annual confirmation day, representing decades of time. As I waited for Allison, I examined the pictures and was immediately struck by the clear decline in how many young people were taking part each year. Big full rooms of people in the 90’s eventually led to just a few kids last year. Immediately, I though of the rabbi we had just met with and how challenging this must be for him; the need to constantly adjust your long-held traditions and beliefs in order to accommodate a modern world, or not accommodate it and likely get left behind.

The writing is on the wall.

-Clayton

2024 04 23

Roo the dog looks up at me as I figure out how to use my Contax T2. Chicago, Illinois. March, 2024. © Clayton Hauck

Running late today. Here’s a picture of our neighbor’s dog from my first roll of film.

It’s interesting to think of who might have previously owned this used Contax T2 camera I am now using and what adventures they had with it. What moments they captured with it.

-Clayton

2024 04 22

A plate of fancy food photographed for Chicago Magazine at Atelier, Chicago. February, 2024.

Today I will wrap principal photography (haha) on a new cookbook due out later this year. The whole process was a big learning experience which maybe I’ll get into more detail about down the road. Despite the challenges, it kind of lit a fire under my butt to make more work that will be printed in book form; be it a cookbook, photobook, zine, whatever.

Time to buy myself a printer and print more of my photos. It’s been something I’ve severely neglected through the course of my career in photography.

-Clayton

2024 04 21

Philosophical graffiti as seen in a Humboldt Park underpass. Chicago, Illinois. March, 2024. © Clayton Hauck

This is a strange video to share, but them’s the rules…

My friend Jack texted me a link to this 4 hour 13 minute youtube video that has well over 6 million views. Clear your afternoon, hit play, and take it in. I know, it sounds weird and grim but this thing is really powerfully edited, fascinating, dark, and unlocks all sorts of memories you probably had hiding away in the dusty cabinets of your brain. Or, for the youngs reading this, take a trip into American history and live the day all of us olds remember. Personally, I was scheduled to move into the big city on 9/11/01 to start college so I ended up moving the following day instead.

The video is a timeline playback covering the morning of 9/11 and made up of live tv broadcasts, synced up video footage, and perhaps most interestingly, radio communications between air traffic controllers and various pilots.

Did you know: the pilot of one of the hijacked planes (before it was taken over) made visual ID of another one of the hijacked planes as it was headed off-course towards NYC?

Did you know: one of the hijacked planes nearly collided with another flight, coming reportedly 300ft from a mid-air collision?

Why president Bush’s staff delivered the news to him in front of a classroom full of people and news cameras is baffling to me when put into this context. I guess his administration isn’t known for its competence.

Anyway, I haven’t yet finished the video so don’t spoil the ending for me (okay, terrible dark dad humor… time for me to wrap this up).

-Clayton

2024 04 20

Dan drinks a delicious Maplewood beer. Chicago, Illinois. March, 2024. © Clayton Hauck

It’s beer o’clock for me. I’ve been running nonstop lately and need a day or two (will get one, at least, since I’m working Sunday).

Anyway, nobody cares about my grind. It’s just nice to be working… and I haven’t had a chance to bank some juicy blog posts in a while.

Here’s another film scan from my first roll of film in a decade or so. It’s nice to be back to the film game, even if it’s just a few frames here and there. Maybe I’ll make it a bigger part of my work. Maybe I won’t. We’ll see. My only regret is not sticking with it and then shunning it even more when it became cool. I still feeling like I’m trend chasing but what can you do?

Enjoy.

-Clayton

2024 04 19

Neighborhood construction scene image made on film; my first roll in at least a decade! Contax T2 Kodak Gold. Chicago, Illinois. March, 2023. © Clayton Hauck

“It’s not my job to create meaning, but to charge the air so that meaning can occur.”

Todd Hido is a smart guy, in addition to being a great photographer. Per my rule of writing about any youtube video I appreciate, below is a new Willem Verbeeck video that covers a lot of ground and is very much worth your time if you at all enjoy photography.

Todd has been someone I repeatedly turn to via various internet videos to distill info and wisdom about how the world of fine art photography works, as I contemplate a potential future book project or two of my own. While gathering enough ego and energy to take on a book project is rather daunting, one of Hido’s observations in the video is that photobooks have evolved into (he argues) the best way to discover new photographers these days. It used to be you’d put in your time and maybe one day a publisher would decide you are worthy of investment into a book, however, these days anyone can make a book relatively affordably. All that said, getting anyone to buy it is another can of worms entirely.

On the topic of Todd Hido and photobooks, I just purchased his Intimate Distance book at the aperture booth at Expo and am excited to dig into it. If anyone reading this wants to stop by my studio sometime and discuss photobooks, hit me up! Working on making the first photobook club meetup a reality and it’d be cool if it was more than myself talking into a mirror about how inspiring Some Say Ice is to me.

Another fitting takeaway from the video: How long does it take to make a project of photographs? “Longer than you think. And it’s important to let things steep for a while,” says Hido, which is proving to be a completely accurate assessment.

-Clayton