2025 12 31
In bar light, he looked alright. Chicago, Illinois. November, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
(Not) Becoming a Bar Owner in 2026
For last year’s post about becoming a bar owner this year, please see: 2024 12 31
The last note of 2025, which I will try to keep brief. One thing I’m left to consider is how I need to update my Year-End Considerations for next year, instead of simply revisiting the ones I make a year ago. I will get to this in the new year, but for now, let’s talk bars!
This is another one that I did not anticipate to play out as it actually did. Early in the year, a building came up for sale which attracted the interest of a friend of mine looking for both a new spot to live in a building he could own. The specific building also happened to house a longtime bar called WeeGees. Perhaps it was irony or perhaps it was fate; the fact that while somewhat actively looking for a bar project to dive into, one named after a photographer, and in my own neighborhood, becomes available.
Smash cut to today and I sit on my couch as a non-bar owner. We were realistically not prepared or qualified to be serious contenders for that particular project, but in hindsight it was likely a good thing it played out as it did. While it did feel like destiny in a strange way, my reality today would be so much different in almost every way imaginable had the project moved forward. While I’m sure some of those aspects might be improvements, I have to think that the time I’ve been able to put towards photography and art has been more fulfilling to me than old fashioneds and cleaning the bathroom at the bar.
This dream of mine isn’t dead, but it’s on hiatus for perhaps another time when it makes more sense.
See ya next year…
-Clayton
This is one entry in a multi-part series of self-exploration and contemplation-out-loud in advance of the new calendar year. Some of this may happen; none of this may happen.
For the complete list of Year-End Contemplation posts from 2025, please see: 2025 12 25.
For the complete list of Year-End Contemplation posts from 2024, please see: 2024 12 25.
2025 12 30
Bear, in studio. Keep it 100. See You Soon, Chicago, Illinois. May, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
Becoming a Portrait Studio Photographer in 2025 2026
Backstory: for 2024’s year-end post about becoming a portrait studio, see: 2024 12 30
For updates from this year, see: Part 1: 2025 03 24; Part 2: 2025 05 13
Quick aside: I recently got a “wellness check” call from a friend after reading my Threads posts. I’d been posting some negative contemplation after a tough week filled with rejection. It’s how I vent! While I realize being negative on the internet is a great way to ruin your reputation, I’ve always felt far more comfortable openly discussing professional losses more so than the wins. Likely, I’m just looking for some sympathy, whereas hyping my wins makes me cringe. How Midwestern of me. All this said, I think it’s time I take the advice and ditch the negativity (I’ve already ditched the politics and it’s helping a ton) on social media. Luckily for you, this here blog will remain the occasional platform for my negative (realistic) rants.
So, yeah… the portrait studio has been increasingly humbling in every way possible. While it’s easy for me to blame things out of my control (the economy, politics, astrology), surely there are things I can be doing better to get more bookings. I’m not going to get into specific numbers in this update. Instead, let’s think through some big picture ideas. To give you a bit more detail, however, let’s just say that my three most recent runs of Keep it 100 have been challenging (two were terrible and one was okay).
Present me jumping in here — I wrote the above back in September after two awful showings for portrait sessions. Basically, I didn’t have enough people book session to even justify doing then, and it had me questioning the whole operation. Afterwards, I did one more run of dates last month and it went a bit better, through still nothing to write home about. The quick and easy explainer as to why I’ve been having a tough time with it is that it’s not a priority of mine. Yes, while doing it, it is, but all of the time in between offering Keep it 100 sessions is spent focused on other things, while hoping that the next time I offer sessions, they will sell out!
Basically, there’s a lot of correlation to my commercial photography career and why it, too, has been struggling. I’m excited and focused while doing the work, but have very little interest in also doing the annoyingly-necessary things required to get the work. One way I’ve been attempting to “trick” myself into promotion is by posting a bunch of the images on my new everyoneisfamous.com website, in hopes of getting a lot of views (and then bookings) from that. As expected, it has worked fairly well! However, again, I’m not putting in the time required to actually update it regularly and am currently sitting on a backlog of two dozen people who I need to make and post pages for (it’s time consuming! I enjoy doing it, just don’t have the time!). Once I’m done with my year-end posts here, I will get busy over there.
Looking Backward and Looking Forward
It’s interesting to read last year’s post (see: 2024 12 30) back to see where my head was at then vs now. Basically, I’m in agreement on much of it but have a better idea of how to get there if I do, indeed, want to go that way. It’s no secret that ai has thrown a massive wrench into all things creative, so I think a large part of my hesitancy has been from a lack of conviction that portrait photography is a valuable way to spend my time and energy. I will say, from a photographer’s perspective, I’d wager it’s one of the better places to be if you do wish to ride out the storm as a working photographer. Sure, many people will ditch portrait sessions altogether and generate whatever images they need (you don’t wanna work with these people anyway!), but many others will shun the automation and turn to the real thing. I think that being an elevated portrait option at a reasonable price point (there’s the catch) will allow you to stay in business for decades to come. The far bigger challenge will be standing out in the pack, among hundreds of other very talented photographers near you, as everyone wants (/needs) to work for themselves these days.
The trouble I’m having with commitment has more to do with logistics than with desire. In sum: I opened the photo studio ~4 years ago now, thinking it would be used mostly for commercial photo projects and occasionally events. Much of the commercial work never materialized, so I turned to portraits partly out of curiosity and partly out of necessity. The space was never designed to be a portrait studio and, looking forward, I’m not confident I could make it the type of portrait studio I would want it to be. It’s too large and expensive, which requires me to maintain partners and other use-cases (events) in order to cover the rent. If I were to really make a go at being a portrait-first photographer, I would need a space with the right character that I could make my own.
Excuses aside, there are still ways for me to utilize what I already have going, while giving a bit more thought to my longer-term plans within photography. That’s the current plan: focus on what is already working. In 2026, I will give everyoneisfamous.com the time it needs to hopefully develop a bigger audience, offer Keep it 100 sessions as much as I can in the current space (likely once per quarter), and do a few free on-location popups to further get the word out and help promo my other businesses. It’s a grind, really, but the good news is that it’s a grind I enjoy doing.
Thinking longer term, I’m still very much inspired by a few London-based portrait photographers (Ivan Weiss, Phil Sharp) and could very much see myself pivoting more towards that type of work (elevated, high-end portrait sessions) as I get older. I always say that I set up the studio in hopes of bringing more jobs to me as I get older, but where I went wrong was with what sort of jobs those would be.
-Clayton
This is one entry in a multi-part series of self-exploration and contemplation-out-loud in advance of the new calendar year. Some of this may happen; none of this may happen.
For the complete list of Year-End Contemplation posts from 2025, please see: 2025 12 25.
For the complete list of Year-End Contemplation posts from 2024, please see: 2024 12 25.
2025 12 29
Mc Lovin’ it! Chicago, Illinois. August, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
(Not) Becoming a Top Commercial Food & Beverage Photographer 2026
For last year’s post about becoming a busy food & beverage photographer this year, please see: 2024 12 29
This resolution was a complete and utter failure in every way imaginable. While my commercial photography career was slow this year generally, the food and beverage projects were non-existent. There was one week that sort of broke me where I lost four commercial bids and two studio bookings in five days, half of which were for beverage projects. On top of this bummer news, my normal hospitality projects have slowed to a trickle in 2025. The restaurant groups that previously kept me busy in my downtime can no longer afford to hire me at all, and none of the new spots opening are hitting me up either. Of course, I’m not helping my case by seeking new clients — mostly because I’m convinced none of them have the money to make it work. Perhaps I’m being too pessimistic, or perhaps I see the writing on the wall, but I’ve consistently made the decision to pivot away from this line of work towards other things.
All this is a bummer, because I really do love photographing food and drinks and had dreams & visions of making cookbooks a primary focus of mine in the studio that I built out to support such projects. One bright spot is that there’s another photographer (Dave Rentauskas, previously a people photographer) who is using the space regularly to photograph food (while I myself, the food photographer, goes out and looks to photograph people). Sometimes things happen in ways you can’t expect. I’m not fully giving up on getting back into this line of work, but I’m also not actively seeking it, either. Once the dust settles on where ai is heading as it relates to commercial photography, perhaps I will re-assess. Until then, I’m enjoying restaurants from a customer’s perspective.
-Clayton
This is one entry in a multi-part series of self-exploration and contemplation-out-loud in advance of the new calendar year. Some of this may happen; none of this may happen.
For the complete list of Year-End Contemplation posts from 2025, please see: 2025 12 25.
For the complete list of Year-End Contemplation posts from 2024, please see: 2024 12 25.
2025 12 28
Sorting through images to make a zine. Chicago, Illinois. August, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
Becoming a (Physical) Photobook Shop Owner in 2026
For last year’s post about becoming a photobook shop owner this year, please see: 2024 12 28
Realm Books exists! Realm Books LLC is a legal entity with a bank account, inventory of many books and zines, and two working photographers at the controls of the ship.
Among all of last year’s resolutions, this is the one that gained the most traction. Had you asked me to guess if it would play out like it has, I would not have suspected it. However, the catalyst came when my now-partner at the bookshop and I met up for beers last winter and ultimately decided to make a go at it. Previously, it was me asking Jack if he wanted to team up on my crazy idea to open a shop. He’d had similar thoughts but I wasn’t able to convince him. Once he eventually came around to the idea, our motivation reach a level of critical mass and the bookshop was formed.
To summarize the year in brief: Realm’s first popup was May 18th and our selection of titles was tiny. Looking back, it’s cute and almost funny to see how quaint our table appeared. After grinding it out for many weeks, our collection grew and the excitement and enthusiasm we heard voiced to us from so many photography lovers kept us pushing forward. For the year, Realm did 21 popups at various locations around town; 1 book fair at Staple + Stitch; 2 photo shows (with David Catalano and Bryan Birks) at my See You Soon studio; 97 books and 27 zines were put into inventory; and one zine was published of my own work under the Realm name.
While this is all very exciting, the realities of running a small business never pause and the constant need to do more things is always there, nagging at you every day. I thought it would be a fun thought experiment to look back at my list of Pros and Cons, which I posted one year ago, before Realm existed, and reply from my current perspective some eight months into the project.
Clayton’s 2024 Pros and Cons, with replies from Clayton’s 2025 Perspective:
PRO: Will gain a ton of experience and understanding of what other photographers are up to. Endless inspiration (aka things to steal)!
This is probably my favorite part about running a bookshop. I wrote a few days ago (see: 2025 12 26) about how I feel like I’m back at school, and it’s this constant stream of new work that I’m being exposed to which is the main reason for this. Sure, you don’t need a bookshop to gain access to these images, however, much like this here blog serves a role in keeping me in check and better focusing my energies, the bookshop does the same. Beyond the books we’ve ordered, I’m now constantly hunting for new things we might be able to put into the shop, and in turn discovering things I would not have previously encountered.
CON: Will possibly have too much exposure to other people’s work, to the point that it will affect my own work a bit too much, in a bad way, or burn out on photography.
This was a serious concern of mine previously but has not been an issue whatsoever. If anything, I’m more inspired than ever to do my own type of work because I now have more confidence that my voice has value and I am capable of putting things into the world that other people will be excited to see.
PRO: Will gain a huge photobook library that will be impressive (to some people)!
Honestly, not counting our bookshop inventory, my collection hasn’t grown dramatically, mostly because I’ve bought less books for myself this year than I have in year’s prior. This is for various reasons (namely: budget conscious, shelves full, and it’s now my job to buy books). But the thing that gets me most excited is not my own personal collection, but what we might be able to build for the shop. One dream vision of mine is to place one copy of each book we stock into a future photobook library that will be available for anyone to check out and browse in a future physical location.
CON: Will have a huge photobook library that I will need to put somewhere and transport somehow (hard!).
Logistics is easily our biggest challenge currently. Realistically, the only reason we’ve been able to make the shop work is because I’ve turned my office into a book warehouse and purchased some large shelving on casters in order to be able to store everything. Considering we are still a tiny operation, I can only imagine how much bigger this challenge can become as we scale. If publishing becomes more of a focus, it will become exponentially more challenging still.
Jack made the comment recently about how he finally understood how publishers will magically “find” boxes of old books they didn’t realize they still had and I totally get it.
PRO: Will make a living and/or have a bit more consistent income through doing something that I love to do (assuming the business does work as I think it would!)
Complicated! When I said logistics was the biggest challenge, I guess I forgot about money. Eight months into this business, we have not paid ourselves anything. All the money made from book sales has gone back into buying more book inventory. When you consider the amount of time we’ve invested into making it all happen, it becomes apparent why nobody has yet done this in Chicago. While it has very much been a passion project, I am still cautiously optimistic we’ll be able to pay ourselves a (very small) salary next year — though “real” money won’t come unless we’re able to scale into a physical space offering things other than just photobooks.
CON: Will spend a lot of my time working in the photobook store, sourcing inventory, packing and shipping (my local post office has 1.9 stars on google. I stopped in there yesterday and they were not accepting customers because “the clerk was out,” as told to us by the apparently-not clerk), and generally doing things that take away my time and opportunities for creating new work of my own vs sharing the work of others in exchange for money.
Bingo! As just mentioned, so much of my time is now spent making Realm happen. On the positive side, the post office concerns have not materialized as we mostly use pickups and do drop-offs at a newly discovered location run by a super nice clerk. That said, we do a majority of our sales at in-person events, so shipping has not yet become the beast it will inevitably become if we are able to scale this thing into something bigger.
PRO: Will make many new connections in the photo industry and likely some new friends as well!
Hell yeah! This one is a big one and has been probably the most rewarding aspect of running the shop thus far. The community aspect of things has been great and I’ve been able to meet and hang with some people I’d previously only known through their work. I can only imagine this will continue and be the driving force that keeps us pushing forward. Just today, a legendary photography ordered a book from us, which I now need to go pack and ship…
CON: Will be forced to do more things I dislike doing, such as legal paperwork, taxes, bureaucracy, posting and responding to people on social media.
Ugh—yes. Figuring out how to pay state sales tax was daunting (still not sure we’re doing it right?!). Tax season is around the corner and we’re not looking forward to learning more bureaucratic necessities. And if our online sales ever pick up steam, learning how to stay in good standing with fifty different states (not even considering international shipping) will be a full-time job in itself.
CON: lots and lots and lots of breaking down boxes.
Eh, I’ve learned to kinda enjoy it!
Bonus CON: I wanted to add a new entry from this year. Perhaps my biggest takeaway thus far from running the shop is that my personal opinions are less important than I expected and the shop is a public-facing entity that needs to approach the world in ways that I myself would not. Managing egos and expectations from your customers, non-customers, suppliers, and artists is challenging! Just yesterday, we were accused of being sexist, which both stings and becomes a time-consuming process of handling in a sensitive matter. Remembering that you need to separate yourself from the business will forever be a challenge, but also one I am ready and excited to take on, as I’m confident I will only grow and benefit from it.
I’m not sure if any of this is interesting to anyone but myself, but I’m mostly doing this post to give myself a warm pat on the back. Setting up the shop is probably the thing I’m most proud of this year and optimistic it has a shot at being something that defines the rest of my career. Just yesterday, we went and looked at a spot that could become the future home of Realm!
Anyway, back to work…
-Clayton
This is one entry in a multi-part series of self-exploration and contemplation-out-loud in advance of the new calendar year. Some of this may happen; none of this may happen.
For the complete list of Year-End Contemplation posts from 2025, please see: 2025 12 25.
For the complete list of Year-End Contemplation posts from 2024, please see: 2024 12 25.
2025 12 27
Don’t Fret’s Art. Chicago, Illinois. February, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
Not Becoming a Documentary Filmmaker in 2026
For last year’s post about becoming a documentary photographer this year, please see: 2024 12 27
This year was supposed to be my Big Pivot back to video. Filmmaking was my first love in this creative field and it’s what got me my start as a photographer. I studied film in college and had big visions of becoming the next Paul Thomas Anderson by now. Having just checked out Marty Supreme, Josh Safdie’s latest film, regrets about my lack of persistence in the medium persist. Josh and I are roughly the same age and while I’m not quite disillusioned enough to think I could be directing feature films on his level at this point in my life, I am fairly confident I could’ve had a respectable career doing something in pictures.
The real reason for my lack of pivoting to motion mostly comes down to an active choice against doing so. Continually, I find more love for the still image and enjoyment in capturing photos. There are folders filled with video files sitting on my computer that I have hardly looked at since shooting them. Namely: Illinois Wandering videos I’d planned to cut into a youtube video; night’s out at various bars I’d planned to make into a Chicago cocktail tour; multiple sessions of filming with the late artist Don’t Fret.
This is a tough one to write, as I’ve still not fully come to comprehend or digest the passing of my pal Cooper. Realistically, I am mentally avoiding the topic to a large degree to protect myself. Maybe that’s selfish; maybe my reluctance to avoid motion work is selfish. I don’t really know, but I will tell you that the biggest reason for my shunning of video this year was Cooper’s death. We had been in the early phases of making a documentary about his life when he suddenly passed away. What I took from my friend, in the end, was a more clear understanding that I should be making work that speaks to me and not be afraid to put it out into the world. In many ways, I now feel as though I’m becoming my own version of Don’t Fret, who oftentimes people would mistake me for as we had a similar look about us… and now, a bit of his hard-nosed will to make art has seeped into my pores and guided me into unknown territory I am still learning to navigate.
We’ll leave it there, for now, however I am long overdue a post dedicated to my friend. The photozine I put out this year was dedicated to him and I’m now working on zine number two (both non-video projects!), which will also feature Don’t Fret vibes. Seeing as this post was less of a New Year’s Resolution and more of a follow-up to a previous resolution, I guess I am also due for a new topic to work on next year. For now, I’m more content watching the next A24 film than I am attempting to make it myself.
-Clayton
This is one entry in a multi-part series of self-exploration and contemplation-out-loud in advance of the new calendar year. Some of this may happen; none of this may happen.
For the complete list of Year-End Contemplation posts from 2025, please see: 2025 12 25.
For the complete list of Year-End Contemplation posts from 2024, please see: 2024 12 25.
2025 12 26
Shadow selfie. Atlanta, Illinois. November, 2024. © Clayton Hauck
Becoming a Fine Art Photographer in 2025 2026
For last year’s post on becoming an artist, please see: 2024 12 26
Well, well. Would you look at that. Time is a flat circle, after all.
One year ago today, I wrote about a “re-focusing” of my photography career away from commercial work and more towards “art.” While I don’t have many failures or successes to report today, I will say, this has been one of my most practiced year-end resolutions. Big changes happen slowly, especially as a 40-something year old. The good news and the bad news of it is: while I don’t expect to make a bunch of money from this career re-focus, I do feel confident that it will give me sustained motivation and joy through the remainder of my career.
This year, I’ve caught myself thinking quite often about how I’ve never been as excited about photography as I currently am. Likely, this is because I’m now putting a majority of my time into things of my choosing, like photographing rural towns and Chicago alleys. This is a joke, of sorts, but the point is that making money through doing what you want to do is almost never easy. Previously, my compromise was that I would make photos of whatever the corporations wanted me to make photos of! These days, I’m still searching for the compromise that enables actual profits (there’s always a compromise). Instead, I find myself back in a school-like setting, learning and growing while sucking up as much information and inspiration as I can get my hands on. It’s enjoyable! I’m reading books on photography and looking at (and selling — more on this in a few days) a never-ending flow of photobooks.
Last time, I specifically spoke about The Illinois Project, my ambiguous plan to do some kind of Important Work focused on the state of Illinois (outside Cook County). Progress has been slow on this for a number of reasons, but I now have a dozen other projects in mind, which you can interpret at a good thing (lots of inspiration!) or a bad thing (lack of focus and accomplishment!). I’m choosing to see it as a positive, as I acknowledge my current status is more that of a student than a practitioner. Considering yourself a student as a 42-year old professional might strike many people as odd, but I think my lack of concern towards any judgments is one of my strong suits. It allows me flexibility in how I choose to focus my talents, and as a shield against the inevitable never-ending Judgment I can expect to see once I proclaim myself Artist.
In sum: I would consider this resolution a successful one, albeit on a modest and developing scale. The biggest gain has been a shift in my own mentality towards photography and my own artistic abilities. One real-world example was the release of my first printed photozine Pointing at Stuff 001: Indecisive Moments, which was published by my own brand new photobook shop Realm Books. In the coming year, I plan to produce two more zines of my own work, which are relatively modest physical endeavors yet allow me huge advances in other areas of skill, while also laying the groundwork for some bigger and more focused photography projects which are yet to be defined.
It’s the intangibles! Living the lifestyle of an artist has been a welcomed shift and one I aim to make the default for the remainder of my days.
-Clayton
This is one entry in a multi-part series of self-exploration and contemplation-out-loud in advance of the new calendar year. Some of this may happen; none of this may happen.
For the complete list of Year-End Contemplation posts from 2025, please see: 2025 12 25.
For the complete list of Year-End Contemplation posts from 2024, please see: 2024 12 25.
2025 12 25
Allison. Chicago, Illinois. January, 2023. © Clayton Hauck
Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones… ya filthy animals!
It hit me that around this same exact time last year, I put some time into considering what I might want to focus on in the new year. Well, it only makes sense to do the same thing again this year, while also looking back at how things panned out — or didn’t pan out at all! I’ll compile links to this year’s list as I update them below:
-Clayton
2025 Year-End Resolutions & Contemplation Posts:
Becoming a Fine Art Photographer in 2025 2026
Not Becoming a Documentary Filmmaker in 2026
Becoming a (Physical) Photobook Shop Owner in 2026
(Not) Becoming a Top Commercial Food & Beverage Photographer 2026
Becoming a Portrait Studio Photographer in 2025 2026
(Not) Becoming a Bar Owner in 2026
My Creative Resolution for 2026
Simplifying My Life in 2026
2025 12 24
Dedication to a habit. Chicago, Illinois. January, 2023. © Clayton Hauck
At the beginning of the year, I promised myself I’d dedicate a bunch of time this year to street photography. While I failed miserably at this promise, I shouldn’t be so hard on myself. Despite the lack of street photography, I’ve still put an impressive amount of time and attention towards photography both of my own making and that of others. The reason I bring up street photography is because this week I caught a fantastic documentary on youtube called Everybody Street. It’s free with a youtube plan and well worth your time.
While “failing” in one area of my photo practice, this here blog has been a bit more successful. Not from any measurable metrics (we still get more visits from Chinese bots than people around here), but from a personal priming perspective. The other morning, while walking the dog, we heard some odd noises off in the distance. “Aliens?!” I thought to myself, rather hilariously, in hindsight. But that’s the thing: I’d just been spending way too much time on twitter reading silly posts about how we’re not alone and aliens are among us. I was primed to think that.
“The only advice I have is that you do something connected to photography every day of your life and you’ll be surprised what happens.” This quote from Richard Avedon was, and remains, one of the foundational perspectives of why I put so much time into this thing. While I’m sensitive about how so many of the posts around here tend to be about me, myself, and I (realistically, this is a terrible way to gain readership, I acknowledge), I do need to remind myself that the only reason I put the time into this blog is because I’m doing it for myself. On that note, I plan to dig into 2024’s year-end personal projections and do a bit of an update to see how things played out in 2025. Fortunately, I did not pick up smoking, despite the reasonable justification to do so. * gestures broadly *
-Clayton
2025 12 23
Navigating the path. Chicago, Illinois. January, 2023. © Clayton Hauck
The king of stylish youtube videos is back with a video about… making a photobook! Really, this video hit my feed and had me all mixed up thinking thoughts and feeling feelings. To put it simply, his work is incredible and inspiring, yet I can’t stand how everything these days needs to be a disguised advertisement. To make it as a visual artist, selling things is a must, be it your own art or products from major corporations.
Beyond the artistic merit of this specific video, it got me thinking about still photos vs video. The two mediums are vastly different from each other despite the urge by many to consider them interchangable. Approaching a project from a motion-perspective is one thing, you have considerations like editing, sound, and graphics that will drastically change the meaning of any shot. Will stills, each image stands on it’s own. My theory is that oftentimes motion shooters will fall for images that work well within one of their videos, yet from an outsider’s perspective, aren’t as powerful. I’m not here judging Gawx, he’s a wildly-talented visual artist, but more so making a vague and undefined observation about how the two mediums differ and that the differences aren’t always respected as much as they perhaps should be.
Keep shooting, be the images moving or still.
-Clayton
2025 12 22
Liam Kazar, thinking about books. Chicago, Illinois. January, 2023. © Clayton Hauck
“For me, photography, so often, is about consciousness. It’s about how we translate the world through the eye and into the brain.” -Alec Soth
Yeah, this here blog is becoming a place to mostly re-post Alec Soth videos. But I don’t care. He’s back again with another banger video filled with photography goodness (see below). Having journeyed names in the genre — people like Soth and Parr who have been through the ringer and experienced all the highs and lows of being a photographer — around and available to discuss topics, shine a light on things, and push the whole thing forward is so incredibly important. This is why it was such a huge loss for all of us to lose Martin Parr this year.
Now that I run a photobook shop, I realized that I’ve purchased far fewer books this year for myself than I had in years past. This video, while a great watch on it’s own, was nice in that it inspired me to purchase some new photobooks from China that I otherwise would not have done. One of my big hopes with the bookshop is to eventually be able to both bring more obscure titles from around the world to my hometown of Chicago and be able to do more traveling myself.
-Clayton
2025 12 21
The apartment. Chicago, Illinois. February, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
There’s an apartment complex across the alley from my studio and I often wonder about who lives there and what’s going on in the building. Not knowing a single person that lives there but occasionally catching a glimpse of things happening, it leaves it up to my imagination to fill in the gaps.
I’ve often thought it would be a good idea to attempt a photo project constrained to one particular building or town. I’m a firm believer that good images or stories can be made most anywhere, so forcing yourself to pull them from within your immediate environment can be a motivating challenge when it comes to creating art. Next year, I hope to explore one of these potential project ideas.
-Clayton
2025 12 19
Winter drive, rural Illinois. February, 2024. © Clayton Hauck
Here’s a snap from one of my Illinois Project outings a few years back. Admittedly, I’ve been severely neglecting this project as finding the time to escape the city has been challenging. We’re also down to one car in the household and we now have a dog, which has me further considering focusing my time on something closer to home. All this to say, I haven’t given up on this project, but without an identity or focus it will likely struggle to materialize. In the coming weeks, I will post more images from the project in hopes of discovering a through line.
-Clayton
2025 12 18
Havana Cruise. Havana, Cuba. December, 2016. © Clayton Hauck
After neglecting my print-selling side hustle for a full year, I got excited about offering my work again a few weeks back in the run up to the holiday market I organized at my studio building. In addition to my own prints, we’re planning to begin selling photography prints in our Realm Books shop sometime next year… and in addition to that, I’ve been working with Maddy at the Kimball Arts Center to set up a print shop for the various artists-in-residence who have shown work over the last few years. So, yeah, I have printing on my mind.
I bring all of this up today because this image, made back in 2016 on my first and only trip to Cuba, has been released as the 17th title in my limited edition series The Camera You Have. You can view the series (and perhaps purchase a print or two) over here. I don’t recall selling a single print from a web visit, but have done a solid amount of sales from in-person events and shows. This traction is what has kept me going, despite the challenges involved in selling art.
Without getting into all of the detail here, I will briefly discuss a few learnings from the couple two-tree years I’ve been offering my work available for sale:
1) It’s hard. It’s at times demoralizing but at other times really rewarding!
2) You have to control your costs. When I first ventured down this path, I was paying a (really good) print shop to make all of the prints for me. Because of this, they were really nice but also I had to price them quite high in order to make the whole operation make any financial sense. I loved the aluminum panel backing we ended up mounting the pieces to, but have since scrapped that idea in order to simplify things and control costs. Also, that print shop has also since closed, forcing me to do everything myself. This has been a learning experience but one I’ve been really enjoying, plus it’s now allowing me to produce works that I can price lower and still make a reasonable profit on.
3) Everyone is price sensitive. I made the decision to lower my price points after experiencing the friction of asking $99 for an 8x10” signed & limited print. I’ve also decided to simplify my pricing across all images and now offer three sizes: (S) 8x10 for $49; (M) 11x14 for $99; (L) 16x20 for $129. The prints are no longer mounted but I’m not cutting corners on the paper and only use the best stuff — Hahnemuhle.
My hope is to continue offering new print editions as I have time to do so, but also really want to sell out of some of my older works so I’m not sitting on huge piles of inventory. If you’re previously considered buy one, perhaps now is the time!
-Clayton
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Lady Protestor. No Kings rally. Chicago, Illinois. October, 2025 © Clayton Hauck
This was a therapeutic day. By design, I don’t get into politics much on this here blog (mostly because the only ones reading lately are Chinese bots), so I don’t want to speak more about all of the insanity going on right now. Instead, this image sparked an internal debate and dialogue about my own current photography practices. Photojournalistic approach vs artistic approach. This is a much more complicated and complex scenario that I won’t attempt to solve in today’s post. Instead, I aim to begin a larger conversation that I will attempt to explore in the coming days and weeks.
As I expand my own artistic photography practice through zines and eventually a book, the question I ask myself is how best to approach these projects. Most of my previous experience in photography has been either through photojournalism or commercial projects which tend to live in the real world (sometimes with much retouching, of course). Many of the photobooks I am drawn to lately have taken a different approach to photography and instead partake in world building and vibe setting, and this is a skill I still need to work on, yet one I’m drawn to because I’ve spend my entire life doing it in my own head.
More another day. Stay safe out there, Chicago, ICE is back in town.
-Clayton
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Sometimes yes, oftentimes no. No Kings rally. Chicago, Illinois. October, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
-Clayton
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Eat up, while you can! Way Out, Chicago, Illinois. December, 2022. © Clayton Hauck
I’m well on my way to Photography Retirement. Why, you might ask? Well, a quick update to The China Situation:
Website traffic to this here blog originating from China is now up to 50%, 70%, 83%, 85% (!!!). As previously discussed (See: 2025 11 07; 2025 11 24, 2025 12 11), once we hit 100% I will officially retire as a photographer and switch my career to moving carts at Costco. A quick search of why so many of the visits are coming from China will tell you it’s most likely due to bots training ai models. My consistent, daily flow of Top Notch imagery is essentially training my replacement.
Have a nice day!
-Clayton 嗨，未来的女朋友，这就是我说话的声音
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Night sky over Bloomington, Indiana. November, 2022. © Clayton Hauck
This is one of the images I printed and gave away as a gift to those who pre-ordered my zine. I’ve still got zines available to anyone who wants to pick one up! They are only twenty bucks and packed full of pictures from this here blog. Now that I’m working on the second installment, I’m both filled with excitement for yet another print project and dread of becoming a photographer who makes more than he sells. This is not to say the first zine did poorly, but financially-speaking it’s about at the break-even mark. The money stuff unfortunately matters, but it’s the creative outlet and possibilities that has me motivated and excited to make more personal work these days.
-Clayton
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Nathan at Lobo. Chicago, Illinois. May, 2025. © Clayton Hauck
What happens when you mix two of my favorite artists, photographer Daniel Arnold and musician Bill Callahan? This video is what happens. And it’s the magic I’d expect it to be.
-Clayton